Despite all of the talk about whether artificial intelligence algorithms will replace doctors, Eric Topol isn’t worried. Topol is a cardiologist at the Scripps Research Institute, a geneticist, and the author of several books about the future of health care.
His newest book is called Deep Medicine: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again (out now from Basic Books). Topol argues that humans will always crave the bond of being cared for by other humans and that AI can help enhance that bond and bring it back — if doctors are willing to stand up to business interests.
The Verge spoke to Topol about how health care works today, health privacy concerns in the age of AI, and the importance of physician activism.
This...
