Artificial Intelligence

in Healthcare

 
 
 

Vocabulary

precise	customize	call on (2)
vital	organ (2)	operation (2)
cost	possible	take/took/taken
custom	heart (2)	treatment
team	capacity	personalize
kind of	funding	suggestion
similar	weather	replacement
flow	generate	prediction
gather	in theory	simulation
clinic	case (2)	run/ran/ran (2)
shape	research	break/broke/broken (3)
IT	dream (2)	break down (2)
enable	potential	know/knew/known
provide	available	believe (2)
loss	turn (2)	individual
surgery	product	association
patient	forecast	lead/led/led
option	specialize	over the next year

 
 
 
 
 

Video: AI in Healthcare

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Heart surgery is precise work — down to the millimeter. An operation on this vital organ costs thousands of euros, and often takes several hours.

Providing each patient with customized treatment is the dream of Titus Kuhne from the Heart Center in Berlin. He and his team are gathering large amounts of data that artificial intelligence with be able to work out treatment suggestions for future patients.

Titus Kuhne, German Heart Center, Berlin: “It’s kind of similar to weather forecasts. Lots of information flows into the computer, which generates a predication and a weather simulation for the next few days.

We use simulations like that to treat individual patients. We don’t have the capacity in the clinic to run the simulation for each case. And in this way, the work is broken down.”

One of the Heart Center’s partners is software company Thousand Shapes. The IT experts specialize in the research of artificial intelligence in medicine. So they know the potential.

Hans Lamecker, 1000 Shapes: “Personalized treatment will be available in the future. It’s already possible in theory, but it’s still a luxury product. Artificial intelligence will help to turn this luxury product into an everyday product.”

Germany’s digital association, Bitkom, says that the process is not going fast enough. It’s calling on the government to put more funding into artificial intelligence.

They don’t believe it will lead to job losses.

Christian Kulick, Bitkom: “We think artificial intelligence will actually create jobs overall. It shouldn’t be seen as a replacement of human beings, but rather as an assistant. For example, to help us create better, more advanced treatment options.”

To enable their research and development of AI, Bitkom is asking the government to provide at least four billion euros over the next four years.

 

 

Questions

1. Cardio surgeons can make approximations when operating on hearts. True or false?

2. How does artificial intelligence work? What is the basis of artificial intelligence?

3. What analogy does the medical AI expert give?

4. Does the Heart Center in Berlin work alone or do the collaborate? Do they partner with other entities?

5. At the moment, only rich people may benefit from medical AI. Is this right or wrong? What will probably happen in the future?

6. Is Bitkom optimistic, pessimistic, both or neither about jobs?

7. What does Bitkom, the digital association recommend? What should be done regarding AI and medicine?

 

A. My doctor has used AI or Big Data to diagnose and treat me. Yes or no?

B. What happens when you visit a doctor? Describe what happens.

C. What are the benefits of AI in medicine?

D. Are there any disadvantages, drawbacks or cons of AI in medicine?

E. What may happen in the future?

F. Should the government do anything regarding AI and medicine?