The clinical artificial intelligence department: A prerequisite for success

Is artificial intelligence (AI) on track to usurp the electronic health record (EHR) as the most disappointing application of technology within medicine? The medical literature is increasingly populated with perspective pieces lauding the transformative nature of AI and forecasting an unforeseen disruption in the way we are practising. However, the reality of the available evidence increasingly leaves little room for optimism. As a result, there is a stark contrast between the lack of concrete penetration of AI in medical practice, and the expectations set by the presence of AI in our daily life.But medical AI need not follow the path of the EHR as a clinical tool that to many led to more workflow woes than it was intended to fix.

As Atul Gawande so eloquently put, “… we’ve reached a point where people in the medical profession actively, viscerally, volubly hate their computers”.If we are going to unavoidably add some disruption to workflow with AI, it should be as painless as possible to circumvent further, or perhaps even reduce, clinician burnout. We believe that this will require the combined and cross-disciplinary expertise of an organised and dedicated clinical AI department.