Artificial intelligence (AI) in breast cancer care - Leveraging multidisciplinary skills to improve care

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies supporting health professionals’ skills bring the promise of an era in which repetitive and time-intensive tasks in healthcare can be automated and performed (either entirely or in part) by AI systems. As automation progressively facilitates the delivery of health care, physicians can now focus on more humanized patient care. The use of AI to ensure quality delivery is essential in the fight against diseases and there is no doubt that the next decade will see a growing stream of AI applications across healthcare. “We are not ready for what is about to come” Coiera tells us [1], a statement highlighting the need for healthcare practitioners and services to prepare for AI’s adoption into health practice. With the progress of AI systems, it seems obvious that machine thinking will invade our workspace, literally and figuratively, in all areas of breast cancer care. Instead of resisting, we should better consider preparing ourselves for the impact, the potential, and the pitfalls, and start adapting our work environment to this new reality. This progress will need big input from “both sides of the barricade”, namely AI technical experts and health care professionals.