Don't worry Doc, your job is safe. Machines replacing high-touch specialized professions like doctors is not the risk here. The bigger immediate risk may be from machines making these jobs much much shittier, and then there's fallout. You won't get fired, but you may want to quit.
MDs are not factory workers. First you have the AMA protecting you. Second, there appears to be a very strong preference by humans for medical care to involve another human being there providing the care - in person.
There are other professions where machines are already much better than humans and the need for humans to even be there in person is debatable. Airline pilots for example. Of course, while a computer can fly a plane better than a human and planes can be flown remotely, it will take much longer for passengers to accept the idea and get on a plane without a human pilot in the cockpit.
The effect of machines for pilots already highlights risks to come. Humans still need to be there in person, but they almost never need to do anything but sit there. The job is to be a warm body and tell people to look out the window while they fly over the Rockies (seriously, take off to landing no human is really needed to fly anymore - pilots do nothing 95% of the time).
How did machines taking over the cockpit affect how the pay, benefits, competency and job satisfaction of pilots took a nosedive? Did you see the movie "Sully"? Where a human did step in over the machine, he almost got crucified even though it was the right move he only just barely was able to convince others of it.
Is it possible machines won't replace doctors very soon but could soon start to lead to lower pay, less trust, less prestige (here come the nurse practitioners at least), less need to use your brains at work and less meaningful interaction with patients...? And when a machine can't do something in those rare cases, will the doctor be ready for that? Think the best and brightest still will want to do this? Doctors already are not fans of that thing where patients come in having looked up their symptoms online, well they are about to do that 10x and be more right than you.
Total guess here: how likely is it that we see the best and brightest increasingly go into medical research instead of practice medicine? As the corporate pharma kickbacks you guys get can't make up for the low pay and shitty shit job conditions machines have created for doctors, while nurses and B-team quality doctors take over the actual physician working with patients stuff?
MDs are not factory workers. First you have the AMA protecting you. Second, there appears to be a very strong preference by humans for medical care to involve another human being there providing the care - in person.
There are other professions where machines are already much better than humans and the need for humans to even be there in person is debatable. Airline pilots for example. Of course, while a computer can fly a plane better than a human and planes can be flown remotely, it will take much longer for passengers to accept the idea and get on a plane without a human pilot in the cockpit.
The effect of machines for pilots already highlights risks to come. Humans still need to be there in person, but they almost never need to do anything but sit there. The job is to be a warm body and tell people to look out the window while they fly over the Rockies (seriously, take off to landing no human is really needed to fly anymore - pilots do nothing 95% of the time).
How did machines taking over the cockpit affect how the pay, benefits, competency and job satisfaction of pilots took a nosedive? Did you see the movie "Sully"? Where a human did step in over the machine, he almost got crucified even though it was the right move he only just barely was able to convince others of it.
Is it possible machines won't replace doctors very soon but could soon start to lead to lower pay, less trust, less prestige (here come the nurse practitioners at least), less need to use your brains at work and less meaningful interaction with patients...? And when a machine can't do something in those rare cases, will the doctor be ready for that? Think the best and brightest still will want to do this? Doctors already are not fans of that thing where patients come in having looked up their symptoms online, well they are about to do that 10x and be more right than you.
Total guess here: how likely is it that we see the best and brightest increasingly go into medical research instead of practice medicine? As the corporate pharma kickbacks you guys get can't make up for the low pay and shitty shit job conditions machines have created for doctors, while nurses and B-team quality doctors take over the actual physician working with patients stuff?