In May 2024, China’s Tsinghua University unveiled the world’s first virtual AI (Artificial Intelligence) hospital called “Agent Hospital.” The doctors, nurses, and patients are driven by large language model (LLM)-powered intelligent agents that are capable of autonomous interaction. The AI hospital intends to train AI-powered agents through a simulated environment that would enable the agents to autonomously evolve and improve its ability to treat diseases. The AI hospital simulates the entire process from the diagnosis to the treatment of patients which includes consultation, examination, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. The AI hospital has a configuration of 14 doctors that are designed to diagnose diseases and formulate detailed treatment plans, and 4 nurses designed to focus on daily support. The AI-powered agents have shown capability in treating 10,000 patients in just a few days. Interestingly, the doctor agents that have evolved are capable of achieving 93.06% accuracy rate on the MedQA dataset (US Medical Licensing Exam questions). The prospect of thousands of fully automated hospitals may not be far-fetched.
Imagine, being hospitalized in the future where the only beings you will be interacting with are robots. This scenario might seem like it was taken from a sci-fi movie but it may be closer to reality than you might think. The AI hospital of China has already shown AI’s capability in the treatment of diseases at an exceptionally faster rate compared with humans. Nvidia’s AI bot have also shown to be better than nurses by being 16% better at identifying a medication’s impact on lab values, 24% more accurate in detecting toxic dosages of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, and 43% better at identifying condition-specific negative interactions from OTC meds. This would likely usher in the use of more advanced technologies in healthcare. If that level of AI would be applied to advanced robots, doctors and nurses becoming obsolete in healthcare will be a distinct possibility.
Another development in the field of nursing is the implementation of an automated robot named “Florence.” Florence is capable of carrying out certain tasks such as measuring a patient’s vital signs, verifying the patient’s identity, delivering medications, snacks or other items to the patient by utilizing AI that operates its camera and sensors to perform actions that were commonly done by nurses. Florence may just be the start but what is stopping roboticists from developing a robot that no longer needs nurses to perform the duties and responsibilities of a nurse? Will there still be humanity in nursing?
All too often, nurses are employed in healthcare simply as end-users of technology. Developers of technology need to have a deep understanding of the complexity of the care processes in the healthcare environment. The need to establish the means to develop a shared understanding between the developers and end-users is very important. The nursing profession is not opposed to the implementation of technologies in their practice but there is a need to include their perspectives so that the potential of healthcare technologies can be maximized. Involving nurses in the design and development of technologies used in nursing practice ensures that the more holistic aspects of caring will persist in novel systems that involve the utilization of advanced technologies in nursing practice.
AI and robots should not replace nurses. There is constant uncertainty in clinical practice as each individual is unique in their own way. Even if they are diagnosed with the same disease, the course of the disease, as well as the physical, psychological, and sociological characteristics of the individual, varies significantly. The uncertainty in these events would ultimately need to be handled by humans. Nurses should not forget that the science and art of nursing is caring and caring is expressed through “warmth.” Warmth is being present with the individual or the family and attend to their needs, achieving a real sense of connection with the people under the nurses’ care, actively listening to the patients and showing empathy, and addressing the patient’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. One thing AI is incapable of doing is providing personalized care and compassion. This is a realm where nurses will always have the advantage. There is a need for a guide on which areas of nursing practice can be delegated to robots so that development of technology to be used in nursing practice can focus on those areas. Nurses need to take control of technological development in nursing practice so that they can ensure that the holistic aspects of care will persist under new systems underscoring the humanness of the people under nursing care.
This is a foreseeable concern in nursing, the use of robots and advanced technologies in nursing practice. Nursing is more than just the performance of tasks. The central element and essence of nursing practice is caring. Through caring, nurses become the facilitators of healing. Nurses need to ensure that the more holistic aspects of caring will persist in the emerging and innovative systems in healthcare by being involved in the development of technologies used in nursing practice.
This opinion piece is written by Joseph Andrew T. Pepito, RN, PhD, Assistant Professor IV at the College of Allied and Medical Sciences, Cebu Doctors’ University.
Reference:
Pepito, J. A., & Locsin, R. (2019). Can Nurses Remain Relevant in a Technologically Advanced Future? International Journal of Nursing Science, DOI information: 10.1016/j.ijnss.2018.09.013.
