Nvidia has collaborated with an Internet of Things (IoT) company named Hippocratic AI to substitute nurses with artificial intelligence “agents,” ushering in a futuristic era in healthcare.
These artificial nursing robots, according to reports, come at a cost of $9 per hour for hospitals and healthcare providers, a rate slightly above that of registered nurses (RNs) and significantly lower than the national average hourly wage.
In a press release, Hippocratic AI portrayed these budget-friendly nurses as a solution to staffing challenges, emphasizing that they would not be involved in medical tasks but rather in “low-risk,” “patient-facing” activities conducted through video calls.
In a demonstration video, Nvidia showcased how an AI “nurse” interacted with a patient post-appendectomy, providing aftercare instructions and addressing queries about suitable antibiotics for a patient with medication allergies and retinopathy concerns. While the demo appeared successful, as expected in controlled settings, the efficacy of AI agents purportedly surpassing human counterparts was highlighted by Hippocratic AI.
However, delegating medical directives to AI agents raises questions about the actual level of risk involved in such tasks. The notion of delegating post-care nursing responsibilities to what essentially functions as a glorified customer service chatbot appears questionable from a social and ethical standpoint.
Moreover, concerns raised by public health authorities and RNs point to the nursing staffing crisis being exacerbated by cost-cutting measures in clinics, resulting in unfavorable working conditions, unjust contracts, and inadequate compensation.
Socratic AI’s promotional material inaccurately portrays the average earnings of nurses, citing outdated data from 2017 to estimate the hourly costs of RNs, which significantly exceeds the more recent figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2022.
Hippocratic AI’s website suggests that leveraging language models is the key to addressing healthcare staffing shortages by minimizing the incremental cost of healthcare services and interventions. However, the portrayal of AI “agents” as a scalable solution to bridge the workforce gap raises skepticism about the underlying motives.
While acknowledging the real challenges posed by staffing shortages in healthcare facilities, attributing the dysfunction of the healthcare system to the high salaries of nurses earning six figures is a flawed argument. The deployment of AI “agents” appears to be a cost-effective strategy to automate labor tasks that organizations are reluctant to compensate adequately.
