A major new study found AI outperformed doctors in ER diagnosis — but there’s a catch

When I think of heroic doctors, I think of the physician in the hospital who’s presented with a patient suffering bizarre or vague symptoms and pulls out the right diagnosis just in time. It’s the basis of almost every medical procedural TV show, from House, MD to The Pitt. It’s the mystique that has made doctors among the most revered professionals in society.But what if a machine could make that call just as well or even better? What should we do about it here in the real world?That question is becoming more urgent. According to a major new study published in Science, advanced artificial intelligence programs often outperform human doctors when diagnosing people seeking emergency medical care.AI has already, for better or worse, become a part of modern medicine. Different programs are being used to do everything from collate physician notes to identify promising new candidates for drug development. The authors of the Science study portrayed their findings as strong evidence that AI could be valuable in the emergency room as well — as long as it is fully vetted in clinical trials for specific uses.Lest the hype outpace the science, the authors made a point to say that they