I really think we were doing things the “right way” before I left: providing AI analyses from various vendors as overlays for slides, and being able to pre-flag slides with obvious cases of cancer or other infection. (These analyses typically being custom algorithms provided by vendors through APIs we collaborate on, not LLM output.)
With things like this simply built into an existing, established pathology platform, I’m pretty confident a team of 4-5 pathologists could do the work of 6-8, with better quality output, similar to how Copilot and other tooling speeds us up as developers. At $300-400k/yr/doctor, that’s considerable savings (and the opportunity to allocate more doctors in specialties that aren’t easily automated).
However, for lots of reasons, it seems the market doesn’t necessarily agree with me on the value potential of this approach in this field (which can certainly be a self-fulfilling prophecy).
>the value potential of this approach in this field
As a medical school dropout, I think the largest "negative" in value assessment would be the inability to shift malpractice liability over to a human practitioner (i.e. can you insure a company's faulty AI/LLM?) — yet today I just read a HN article on insurers offering a new product: insuring chat/LLM fuck-ups.
As exciting as this all is, I'm still so glad I didn't become a radiologist!
I think I could have been happy with the physician lifestyle, but I knew I wouldn't make good life decisions surviving/getting through residency. I am glad to have survived (e.g. career change).
I've spent two decades as an electrician, and as the story goes: it is what it is... but also what you make of it. An incredible Good Fortune keeps me from having to work full-time, but as I've entered my forties I know I want to get in an air conditioned office (before too long).
Perhaps I'll first move to a country where healthcare isn't tied to full-time employment. Best of luck to you in your Interpretations.
I really think we were doing things the “right way” before I left: providing AI analyses from various vendors as overlays for slides, and being able to pre-flag slides with obvious cases of cancer or other infection. (These analyses typically being custom algorithms provided by vendors through APIs we collaborate on, not LLM output.)
With things like this simply built into an existing, established pathology platform, I’m pretty confident a team of 4-5 pathologists could do the work of 6-8, with better quality output, similar to how Copilot and other tooling speeds us up as developers. At $300-400k/yr/doctor, that’s considerable savings (and the opportunity to allocate more doctors in specialties that aren’t easily automated).
However, for lots of reasons, it seems the market doesn’t necessarily agree with me on the value potential of this approach in this field (which can certainly be a self-fulfilling prophecy).