Rejected AMEE abstract (Point of view) | Human replacement by artificial intelligence: An heretical point of view

See this brief post on my reasons for sharing rejections.

I should note that my intention with this submission was to take an extreme position on a topic, to test our collective assumptions. I’m not convinced that the claim (i.e. health professions workers will be replaced by AI) is true. But I’m also not convinced that it’s false. I would have enjoyed a discussion and the inevitable pushback that comes from taking a position to test my arguments.

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Abstract

Stories are powerful constructs that reach deep into our lives. They help us make sense of the world, standardising certain perspectives in our communities. In this session, I’d like to tell a story that runs counter to the orthodox point of view. If you’d like, you can think of this story as a heresy.

There’s a dangerous narrative in health professions education, one that aims to obfuscate the truth. The narrative is that artificial intelligence (AI) will never replace the human in the loop. You can’t read an article about AI without this obligatory disclaimer, noting that AI will only ever augment our unique human abilities. Machines will only take on the dull and dreary administrative work that we’re only too happy to give up.

The most insidious part of the story is that we’re told this will give us more time; more time for connection, more time for students, more time for the things we really love. This part of the story feels comfortable and empowering; it says there is something special about being human. But it isn’t true.

Generative AI is already capable of grading student work, creating course outlines, providing student support and guidance, and responding to quite challenging questions. Yes, there are flaws in the system, but tomorrow the system will be better. And in 6 months time, it’ll be better still. If you think that humans can’t be replaced, you need to, at the very least, show why this trend won’t continue. Because if it does continue, our replacement by machines is not only possible, but inevitable.

There is no reason to believe that AI will stop at only doing the work we don’t want. If it’s cheaper for an algorithm to complete a task (hint, it is), it won’t matter what category of task it is. I’d like to propose a different story. One that is less comfortable, and more uncertain. But, I believe this story will help us prepare for a time when it’s clear that AI progress isn’t going to stop just because we don’t like where it’s taking us.