You have probably all heard or may have had the opportunity to see the 2022 science fiction black comedy film called ‘M3GAN’. In the film an Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) doll called ‘M3GAN’ takes on the role of being a child companion. I would call it more like care support assistant for an eight-year-old Cady, who’s family was tragically killed in a car accident. Designed by Cady`s aunt Gemma, a robotic developer for a toy store, in Seattle, Washington, USA. It’s main goal, was to protect Cady at all costs, working alongside Gemma.
However, like all the twists and turns of A.I. science fiction movies, made in the past like ‘The Terminator’ or `Ex Machina’, the A.I. doll ‘M3GAN’ takes matters into her own hands, wanting complete autonomy and control over the protection of Cady. Eventually attempting to kill Cady`s Aunt Gemma, possibly due to data corruption or a CPU (Central Processing Unit) malfunction. Who knows? The humour shown in this film, of the M3GAN doll singing the Sia song called ‘Titanium’ as a bedtime song for Cady, to sleep in peace, being rest assured nothing will destroy Cady or her especially M3GAN, as she is made of titanium, really amuses me, as no computer system is indestructible.

As a NIHR ARC NWC Public Adviser (P.A.) that has obtained an undergraduate degree in Computing, it excites me what the future brings for A.I. hopefully a step in the right direction, as A.I. can be used to aid and support clinical practice, making a difference in supporting worldwide health and social care. Instead of causing destruction, war and turmoil shown in science fiction films and the news around the world currently. My family friends a few months ago came back from a city break holiday to Amsterdam, Netherlands. However, what fascinated me about their holiday, is what they witnessed at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, an adorable interface robot that makes air travel less stressful, by carrying a customer’s luggage to their actual boarding gate, by a customer simply scanning the boarding pass to the robot and then the robot reading the data from the flight boarding pass. If the travel industry is embracing A.I. technology like this, is it not about time, that the health and social care industry, also embraced this technology, instead of having fears and doubts.

I was delighted and grateful to be one of the NIHR ARC NWC P.A. members along with Siama Gul and Saiqa Ahmed, to be part of this research project conducted by NIHR ARC NT (North Thames), on centered around gathering public perceptions on translating A.I. into clinical practice. The conclusion to the research conducted, ended with a publication being published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, with myself being coauthored, with William Lammons, Patient and Public Engagement Lead at NIHR ARC NT, Dr. Milou Silkens an Assistant Professor researching translating A.I in healthcare, based at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands, Sudir Shah, NIHR ARC NT PA and Dr. Charitini Stavropoulou, a reader in health services research, City University of London, United Kingdom. Please follow the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) website link listed below, to read the research publication: https://shorturl.at/hluJX .

I would like to conclude this blog with my final thought. I don`t know, if it is the way my Aspergers (Autistic) brain is rewired, but I have this fascinating vision that Public Advisers, Academic Researchers, A.I. Developers and Health Care Professionals could all work together researching and developing an A.I robotic healthcare assistant, to aid GP`s in GP surgeries and junior doctors in A&E hospital departments. The robots will be involved in accurately diagnosing patients, with the first initial onset signs of a health condition or disease, without the need for human error, as we are all human and we all make mistakes from time to time, no matter how educated we may claim to be. Also, an A.I. system will never be as intelligent as the human brain, it is just a quicker and faster way of processing data. A.I. can only read the data it has been given, calculating a solution from the data, it is up for us as humans, to ensure that inputted data is accurate and readily up to date, so the A.I system can perform accurate results. However, if an A.I. system like this could be achieved, maybe less people will be misdiagnosed, meaning my mother would probably be still alive now.

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JHunter
Jamie Hunter
NIHR ARC NWC Public Health Research Adviser