Doctors: AI can only support scientific research
Although artificial intelligence can also provide support in scientific research, one medical researcher believes that humans are still necessary.
(Image: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock.com)
Artificial intelligence can support scientific research, but it cannot replace human knowledge and creativity. This was emphasized by Jörg Meerpohl, Director of the Institute for Evidence in Medicine at the University Medical Center Freiburg (for the Cochrane Germany Foundation) and member of the Standing Vaccination Commission, at the symposium "50 years of drug prescription in practice". This is reported in the Ärzteblatt.
Meerpohl also believes that AI can help with scientific writing, for example by automatically creating tables and graphics. However, this has also backfired in the past, as shown by the case of a retracted publication in which the graphic depicted a rat with an oversized penis. Human expertise therefore remains necessary to ensure the accuracy and credibility of the content. In another case, medical professionals drew attention to the dangers of measurement data invented by AI .
AI can help with the systematic research of studies; after all, it is fast at processing large amounts of data. However, according to Meerpohl, there are significant limitations, especially about the reproducibility of results, the Ă„rzteblatt writes. This poses a problem for transparency, which is important in science.
Videos by heise
In an earlier interview, doctor Stefan Streit pointed out that AI does not rely on complete and structured data in order to gain insights. This could lead to a decoupling of traditional evidence-based science and AI-supported findings. "I'm curious to see how scientists deal with this when there are two truths," said Streit. This divergence between scientific knowledge and AI-supported analysis could pose a challenge for the future research landscape.
Pharmaceutical companies want to become AI companies
Pharmaceutical companies announced months ago that they would develop into AI companies. Biontech is also planning to become an AI company and wants to achieve "world-class capabilities" in supercomputing, AI research and generative AI. And Health Minister Karl Lauterbach hopes to use AI and data to obtain vaccinations for the next pandemic more quickly, just like the pharmaceutical companies. The Medical Research Act, which recently passed the Federal Council, is a key pillar of the German government's pharmaceutical strategy. The aim is to make medicines available more quickly and, according to Lauterbach, to produce them in Germany.
(mack)
