It can be helpful to recognize the nature of artificial intelligence (AI) as a disruptive technology within health care, explained Kenneth A. Richman, PhD, professor of philosophy and health care ethics at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University in Boston, during a presentation at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Pharmacy Futures 2024 in Portland, Oregon. When brought in as a new technology for the health care workforce to utilize, the disruptive nature of AI will naturally lead to varying reactions from the workforce when asked to bring applications of the technology into their practice.
“Disruptive technology is a term that people use sometimes, and let's think about what it means [to define] AI as disruptive,” Richman said. “Whether good or bad, AI shakes things up. It forces change, and it's disruptive in the sense that we were going one way, and we may have been doing okay, or thinking that we're doing just great, but then all of a sudden we're forced to change, and we may not be clear on whether that's a good thing or not a good thing.
” For example, when pharmacies moved from manual written ledgers to keeping patient records and pharmacy records in a computer, some pharmacists were upset and did not want to change how they did their jobs. According to Richman, these individuals may have felt that their system worked fine, and they did not see a need for change. These individuals may, as a result, have resisted the.
