Tag: hospital

Is There a Role for AI in Healthcare? Exploring Its Potential

February 25, 2026

A talk I listened to on how AI works with healthcare left me puzzled. A PhD working at the hospital explained LLMs (Large Language Models), such as Co-Pilot, ChatGPT, and Gemini, and compared them to search engines like Google and Bing. I thought I understood the difference: while search engines provide sources for queries, such as links or URLs, LLMs combine multiple sources into text and provide a human-like form of written communication.

According to the speaker, search engines maintain up-to-date information by constantly crawling the web, while LLMs remain current only up to the time they were trained, that is, the information they were given. This is so because not all LLMs are tied to the internet, so they do not have up-to-date information. So, I took it that search engines are good for research, while LLMs offer text and context to a query.

Both tools share the same starting point: the prompt. A question or prompt to a search engine would bring up links and URLs, while an LLM would generate a complete essay on the subject.

I was aware of much of this information; I have used search engines for years, and in the last year, I tried my hand at using some LLMs, for example, Co-Pilot, which is built into the MS Office suite. But how does all this technology relate to healthcare? That was the title of the presentation. So, I asked for an example at the end of the lecture. I said I see a cardiologist sitting at a computer, an MRI image on the screen, and a patient on the side. What does he do to use AI? Does he use a prompt about the MRI taken of the patient sitting next to him? Instead of a direct answer, the speaker explained that the infrastructure for using AI is not yet complete; for example, the hospital must have its own storage for the data, it cannot use storage elsewhere due to privacy concerns.

Also, I did not find answers to how doctors are trained to use AI or what percentage of them are currently using it. Anecdotally, I remember that when I last visited my ophthalmologist, he was concerned and dubious about computerizing his patients’ information. I wonder how long it may take for the medical profession to embrace and use computer technology, especially AI.

Coming back to a live example of how the medical profession may use AI, would he/she ask AI to examine the MRI and identify any medical problem shown on the image? The speaker emphasized that AI is only a tool to use and ultimately, the doctor decides on treatment, potentially using information gleaned with AI tools. After the lecture, I told the speaker that a few examples of medical professionals using AI would have been useful.

To test what I learned, I came home and used a prompt: “Write 300 words on the Vatican Museum”, and asked Google and Co-Pilot, to respond. To my surprise, both apps wrote a nice essay. It appears that the boundaries between search engines and LLMs are blurring, especially as technology advances and these tools integrate.

However, while both can provide information, their use in the specialized, privacy-sensitive field of healthcare remains challenging. There is potential, but also barriers in infrastructure, training, and trust.

PS. In today’s Washington Post, February 24, there is an article by a doctor about how to use AI in medical practice. “AI didn’t replace me as a doctor. It made me better.” By Ashish K. Jha

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/02/24/health-care-ai-doctors-chatbots/

Regaining Your Mojo After Tick Illness

July 22, 2025

Have you ever lost your mojo? Your ability to function? Do you enjoy making decisions and following through, but have lost the ability to do so? Have you ever felt in the dumps, with no ambition to do anything? Tired and spent, and the only thing you can do is sit around and maybe have coffee? In other words, you have lost interest in life and feel incapable of accomplishing anything, searching for a sense of purpose.

What would cause such a state? Perhaps you lost your job, were reorganized out of a job, or what they call today, the organization was right-sized! You may have lost your home to one of the out-of-control fires that have been spreading in many states and provinces. I lost my mojo due to a tick, a small bugger no bigger than a poppy seed. They are small, and most of the time, when they find you, you do not feel them. But when they get hold of you, they gorge on you and swell up, and that is when you can see them. If you discover them within twenty-four hours, you should liberate your body from them and go to a pharmacist who will give you a double dose of prophylactic, and that is the end of it. If, however, you never see and feel them, they can create havoc with your body.

I suffered the consequences of one of those nasty critters, ending up in the hospital for four days, trying to get my health back via IVs dripping medicine into my veins and also taking doxycycline for over a week. Yes, I lost my mojo for a few weeks; I was tired all the time, with no ambition to do anything.

When I was well enough to leave the hospital and, in a week, return to the cottage, most bothersome was my paranoia about walking in the tall grass around the cottage, the natural home for ticks, and fearing another one of those tiny monsters crawling on me again. I did not want to go through the hospital routine once more. So, what could I do?

I discovered a jacket in one specialty store that is both mosquito-proof and, more importantly, tick-proof. I had to have one of those. Based on this finding, I searched for other clothing that is tick-proof but could not find any, except for a pair of pants called “bug pants”, in an outdoor store, that are designed to protect against bugs. So, I had to have one of those. To protect my head, I decided to use my wide-brimmed Tilley hat, which I sprayed with an anti-tick chemical. Now I was ready to tackle the outdoors again. Once dressed, I felt as if I were in a hazmat suit. The bug pants and the protective jacket were hot, especially during the heatwaves.

I was still paranoid going to the cottage because that is where I think the tiny and nasty critter attached itself to me, sending me to the hospital. The problem was the tall grass that I had to cut back and trim down. Although I have a corded weed eater, I decided to buy a battery-powered one to reach every corner of the yard, both up front and in the back. There was no question in my mind that I had to clear the entire property of tall grass to make sure ticks would not feel at home there.

In addition to buying protective gear, I learned that I should also pull up my socks over my pants to create a firm closure so no ticks can wander onto my skin. Another tip I learned was to visually inspect myself when entering the cottage to detect any ticks on my clothing that I should remove, and also to check my body for ticks at night while showering. And place all the clothing I wore outside into the dryer to kill any ticks that may be on it.

Whenever I went outside the cottage to cut the grass, dressed up with all the protective gear, I felt nervous. But I knew that I had to overcome this fear and try to regain my mojo, the confidence to take care of the yard as I used to do before. And I am succeeding; the more times I work outside, the more comfortable I feel now.