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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!sbcs!bnl!mab
From: mab@bnl.UUCP (Michael A. Bloom)
Newsgroups: net.ai,net.med
Subject: An ai offshoot, and maybe a new newsgroup
Message-ID: <282@bnl.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 17-Dec-83 08:02:07 EST
Article-I.D.: bnl.282
Posted: Sat Dec 17 08:02:07 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 18-Dec-83 03:11:45 EST
References: <3910@uiucdcs.UUCP> <109@ucbopal.CC.Berkeley.ARPA>
Lines: 27


	"The suggestion for AI machines in medicine seems to point opposite to
	 improving that profession.  Medicine today has too many machines and
	 machine-oriented workers, too few healers.  The whole field is
	 distorted by the excessive rewards..."

Then let us work out a means by which machines are made to 'care' about
their patients.  Can we determine what is needed to do this?  Perhaps an
offshoot of ai is called for:  "artificial empathy" (complete with
"spiritual systems")     o :-)

	"The average MD has become a dispenser of technology,  prescribing
	 machine treatments and chemical doses.         ... There are
	 already too many Artificial Inteligences with Medicinae Doctor
	 initials-- we need more Humans.		--Genji"

True.  This has given me an idea for a *good* use of this media.  It is
VERY hard to find a good doctor. ( And people often don't look very hard
until they dont have the time to look).  What do people think of
proposing net.med.good-doc (maybe not the best of names).  Here people
can relate experiences they have had with what they consider to be good
doctors, naming the doctors, of course.  A problem would be that you
couldn't refer to a poor doctor as such (at least not without risking a
libel suit).
-- 

Michael A. Bloom	..!bnl!mab  or mcb@mit-mc.arpa or mab@bnl