Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: Three Questions for Professor Amal Bourkia
Follow-Up
Artificial Intelligence has revolutionized the medical field, with applications in digitizing medical records, intelligent diagnostic and treatment systems (…), which contribute to improving healthcare services.
In an interview with the Maghreb Arab Press, on the occasion of her book “The Physician in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” Professor Amal Bourkia, a specialist in nephrology and organ transplantation, sheds light on the goals of this book and ways to benefit from artificial intelligence as a means to support scientific and medical advancement, as well as the ethical challenges facing this field and how to keep up with global developments.
You recently published a book titled “The Physician in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.” What are the key themes of this work?
This book aims to highlight what artificial intelligence can provide in terms of tools and mechanisms to serve physicians and the field of medicine, as well as the positive aspects that can be leveraged for medical development. The author combines scientific analysis with a human dimension and emphasizes how to preserve human medicine in a digital world.
The timeliness of the book stems from the fact that artificial intelligence offers numerous enhancements to the medical field, particularly in the use of intelligent systems that assist in diagnosis and treatment, as well as in analyses, whether radiological or biological. Today, thanks to artificial intelligence, the world is moving towards a more comprehensive understanding on a medical level, which will allow for a shift from therapeutic medicine to preventive medicine.
Through virtual reality and digital simulation models, artificial intelligence provides significant opportunities for training, particularly for medical students and physicians in general.
When discussing artificial intelligence, the ethical question often arises, especially regarding the extent to which humans rely on it and the possibility of it replacing humans in several professions. What is your perspective on this in the medical field?
The ethical issue is central in medicine, and physicians and all stakeholders must work intensely on this matter, especially in the absence of a law that regulates this field. For instance, in the case of a medical error involving an artificial intelligence machine or technology, it is difficult to determine who is responsible. Is it the physician? Is it the engineer who invented the machine? Or the manufacturing company or the hospital where it was used (…)?
There is also the risk of losing the human aspect in the relationship between patient and doctor, which raises the question of whether the machine or artificial intelligence will replace the physician or create a barrier between the physician and the patient. Therefore, I believe that the responsibility lies with the physician, who must use the machine to serve humanity and ensure the preservation of the position and role that the physician plays.
In this context, we need awareness, sensitization, and medical competencies capable of making decisions and utilizing machine services, rather than relying entirely on the machine, which would, in this case, take control over the physician, the patient, and humanity in general.
In light of the digital development occurring in Morocco, particularly in terms of using modern technologies in the medical field, can we say that we can keep pace with the global developments?
Certainly, we can keep pace with this development and these technologies, but there is an economic aspect that arises regarding the cost of these treatments, which should not be inflated due to the introduction of modern technologies.
Investment in training is also necessary on multiple levels by generalizing training in the field of artificial intelligence among medical students. Additionally, young practicing physicians are also invited to engage in this dynamic, aiming to provide competencies capable of effectively dealing with these technologies, and thus keep pace with this development.
