Three different types of AI hype in healthcare

Abstract

Healthcare systems are the embodiment of big data – as evident in the logistics of resource management, estate maintenance, diagnoses, patient monitoring, research, etc. – such that human health is often heralded as one of the fields most likely to benefit from AI. Yet, the prevalence of hype – both positive and negative – risks undermining that potential by distracting healthcare policy makers, practitioners, and researchers from many of the non-AI factors that will determine its impact. Here we categorise AI hype in healthcare into three types that include both utopian and dystopian narratives and plot a series of more productive paths ahead by which to realise the potential of AI to improve human healthcare.