ALBANY, N.Y. — Artificial intelligence has been a powerful tool to revolutionize the field of medicine and healthcare, but some are now expressing concerns about AI's growing role in the industry.
Nurses at the Albany Stratton Veterans Affairs Medical Center gather Thursday outside the Department of Veterans Affairs in Albany to rally for safer staffing levels and patient protection measures amid the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence technology. did.
The rally was part of a nationwide effort organized by their union, National Nurses United.
Promoting safe staffing has become a unified message among nurses across New York State, including at Albany Medical Center.
“We're here to talk to our employees and patients, to take care of them, to ask about their needs. Just like we can't connect with patients the way we should.” said registered Gwendolyn Freiermuth. Nurse and NNU member from Stratton, Virginia.
NNU nurses say safe staffing and patient care can never take a backseat to cost-cutting measures or over-reliance on technology, and are increasingly concerned about the increasing use of AI in the workplace. claims.
Nurses are concerned that hospital executives are increasingly investing in artificial intelligence instead of recruiting and retaining staff.
Research conducted by NNU found that artificial intelligence technology often contradicts and undermines nurses' own clinical judgment and threatens patient safety, leading unions to call for stronger regulation and It is calling for more input from nurses and medical staff on whether and how it will be used. It has been introduced in hospitals across the country.
They argued that decisions made by algorithms rather than medical experts could lead to serious mistakes.
“The information we have is that a patient is being discharged from surgery, and they go home early with a tablet and have an AI person talk to them and basically assess how they're doing. I can't even imagine it after surgery.''Patient, many things can happen. We need to monitor the patient,” Freiermuth said, highlighting concerns about post-operative care.
Despite these concerns, AI has made significant contributions to the medical field, including early detection of diseases such as cancer and streamlining administrative tasks.
“One of the things I learned is that AI can be very helpful when it comes to writing pre-approval letters to insurance companies,” says Dr. James Saperstone of Guilderland Community Care. He reflected on how it helped his own medical practice.
“On the diagnostic side, things like CAT scans and laboratory tests have become very useful in suggesting and reinforcing medical diagnoses,” he added.
However, he emphasized that AI is just a tool to support human decision-making, saying, “It will never replace humans. So empathy is not AI. And when you're in the room with a patient. Bedside manner is how they view you.”
The nurses made it clear that they are not opposed to AI technology, but urged hospital administrators to slow its introduction to ensure quality patient care, especially at the bedside.
Albany Stratton VA Medical Center did not respond to a request for comment.
