Computer Vision News - June 2021

337 IBM Watson Health “My experience with patients is that they’re very willing to accept technology,” Dr. Anvari reassures us. “When they see that AI improves the care they receive, and that they can get the care closer to home, they are very happy. 17 years ago, I started a program operating on patients remotely. Everybody said, ‘Who would allow you to operate on them when they’ve never seen you?’ The first patient was obviously very brave, but once everybody had heard that it was a success, there was no shortage of people saying I’d rather have the surgery remotely than have to travel 400km!” AI and robotics have already been combined successfully in many industries, but in medicine, Dr. Anvari says it is revolutionary , although there is some work to do. “There are three groups that you need to satisfy,” he points out. “Physicians, who are traditionally very conservative, have to accept the fact that for some tasks, AI can enhance their abilities to diagnose and treat; the public have to agree that it is the best thing for them; and hospitals have to understand that AI is going to save them money. I have no doubt that we will satisfy all three!” “Physicians, who are traditionally very conservative, have to accept the fact that for some tasks, AI can enhance their abilities to diagnose and treat; the public have to agree that it is the best thing for them; and hospitals have to understand that AI is going to save them money. I have no doubt that we will satisfy all three!”