Empathetic, Available, Cheap: When A.I. Offers What Doctors Don’t
對美醫療體系失望 患者轉向AI尋求建議
Driven in part by frustrations with the medical system, more and more Americans are seeking advice from artificial intelligence. Last year, about 1 in 6 adults — and about a quarter of adults under 30 — used chatbots to find health information at least once a month, according to a survey from KFF, a health policy research group. Those numbers are probably higher now, said Liz Hamel, who directs survey research at the group.
對醫療體系的不滿，促使愈來愈多美國人開始向人工智慧尋求建議。根據醫療政策研究機構KFF的調查，去年約每6名成年人就有一人、30歲以下族群則有4分之1，每月至少一次使用聊天機器人查詢健康資訊。負責調查的麗茲．哈梅爾表示，數據現在可能更高。
In dozens of interviews, Americans described using chatbots to try to compensate for the health system’s shortcomings. A self-employed woman in Wisconsin routinely asked ChatGPT whether it was safe to forgo expensive appointments. A writer in rural Virginia used ChatGPT to navigate surgical recovery in the weeks before a doctor could see her. A psychologist in Georgia sought answers after her providers brushed off concerns about a side effect of her cancer treatment.
在數十次受訪中，多名美國人表示，他們利用聊天機器人彌補醫療體系的缺陷。威斯康辛州一名自僱婦女經常詢問ChatGPT是否可以跳過昂貴的預約門診；維吉尼亞州鄉間的一位作家，則在手術後等待看診期間，靠ChatGPT指引康復流程；喬治亞州的一名心理學家在醫師對其癌症治療副作用的疑慮置之不理後，也向 ChatGPT尋求答案。
Some know that AI can get things wrong. But they appreciate that it is available at all hours, charges next to nothing and makes them feel seen with convincing impressions of empathy.
有些人知道AI可能答錯，但他們仍然欣賞它全天候可用、幾乎不需花費，且透過看似同理的語氣讓人感到被理解。
“All of us now are starting to put so much stock in this that it’s a little bit worrisome,” said Rick Bisaccia, 70, of Ojai, California. “But it’s very addicting because it presents itself as being so sure of itself.”
住在加州奧海鎮、70歲的比薩西亞表示：「我們所有人現在都開始愈來愈依賴這個東西，這令人有些擔憂。它總是表現得很有自信，讓人很容易上癮。」
Chatbots routinely suggest diagnoses, interpret lab results and advise on treatment, even offering scripts to help persuade doctors to follow AI-generated treatment plans. But AI is not well suited for the kinds of questions it is often asked. Somewhat counterintuitively, chatbots may excel at solving difficult diagnostic quandaries, but they often struggle with basic health decisions, like whether to stop taking blood thinners before surgery.
聊天機器人時常提供診斷建議、解讀檢驗結果、甚至給出說服醫師採用AI治療方案的「溝通話術」。但AI並不擅長人們最常提出的問題。有些違反直覺的是，AI在複雜的診斷難題上可能表現亮眼，但在更基礎的健康決策上卻常常失準，例如術前是否應停用抗凝血劑。
Representatives for OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, and for Microsoft, which makes Copilot, said the companies take the accuracy of health information seriously and are working with medical experts to improve responses.
企業如開發ChatGPT的 OpenAI與開發Copilot的微軟皆表示，公司十分重視健康資訊的正確性，並且正與醫療專家合作以改善相關回覆。
For all the limitations, it’s not hard to understand why people are turning to chatbots, said Dr. Robert Wachter, chair of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Americans sometimes wait months to see a specialist, pay hundreds of dollars per visit and feel that their concerns are not taken seriously.
舊金山加州大學醫學系主任勞勃．瓦赫特說，儘管AI有許多限制，但人們求助聊天機器人其實完全不難理解。美國人有時要等上好幾個月才能看專科醫師，每次問診要付數百美元，而自身疑慮往往得不到重視。
“If the system worked, the need for these tools would be far less,” Wachter said. “But in many cases, the alternative is either bad or nothing.”
瓦赫特同時指出：「如果體系運作良好，對這些工具的需求就會大幅減少。但是在許多狀況下，替代方案效果不是很差不然就是根本不存在。」
文／Teddy Rosenbluth and Maggie Astor，譯／羅方妤
說文解字看新聞
【張佑生】
在美國看病價格不菲，患者轉向貌似無所不能的AI求助，很多人早就拿網路上的查詢結果質疑門診醫師的意見。Diagnostic quandaries比difficult cases更常見於NEJM和Lancet等期刊，意指疑難雜症、棘手的鑑別診斷案例：He was in a quandary [=unsure, confused] about which candidate to choose.近義詞包括plight和dilemma。
掛名醫的號排隊3小時，進診間待不到3分鐘就被打發(be brushed off)，相信許多讀者/患者都心有戚戚焉。動詞片語brush somebody/something off有敷衍、且態度不友善的意思：Concerns about the legality of the measures were brushed off by the government. 可當名詞使用，單數型態：Paul asked Tara out to dinner but she gave him the brush-off.
Put/take stock in是對人或物有信心，stock不可數：He placed/put a lot of stock in her ability to get the job done. [=he had a lot of trust in her ability to get the job done]
科學人／你是遠距工作的「孤獨患者」嗎？2指標畫出職場心理地圖
訊息無人回覆、群組標註被忽略——這些微小的沉默，正悄悄塑造遠距工作的孤獨風險。
看不見的孤單：當人際互動轉為線上
遠距工作與彈性工時為現代職場帶來自由與效率，但也讓社交線索變得模糊。在共同
科學人／正面迎戰馬斯克！MIT研發出微晶片「從血管進入腦」
科技巨頭們對於人機一體的賽博格（Cyborg）早已有諸多想像，早在 2017 年，OpenAI 的執行長奧特曼（Sam Altman）就曾撰文指出：「近年矽谷熱門話題之一，是猜測人類與機器會在哪一年『
共 0 則留言
- 張貼文章或下標籤，不得有違法或侵害他人權益之言論，違者應自負法律責任。
- 對於明知不實或過度情緒謾罵之言論，經網友檢舉或本網站發現，聯合新聞網有權逕予刪除文章、停權或解除會員資格。不同意上述規範者，請勿張貼文章。
- 對於無意義、與本文無關、明知不實、謾罵之標籤，聯合新聞網有權逕予刪除標籤、停權或解除會員資格。不同意上述規範者，請勿下標籤。
- 凡「暱稱」涉及謾罵、髒話穢言、侵害他人權利，聯合新聞網有權逕予刪除發言文章、停權或解除會員資格。不同意上述規範者，請勿張貼文章。
發佈留言