Robots in Medicine

The world of the future will be an ever demanding struggle against the limitations of our intelligence, not a comfortable hammock in which we can lie down to be waited upon by our robot slaves.

Norbert Wiener (1894-1964), God and Golem, Inc. (1964)

January 29, 2012

About robots in medicine
I ponder
And I wonder
Are robots desirable
Are robots better
Will touching
Feeling
Listening
Smelling
Palpating
And Handling
Become obsolete
Will everything be
automatic
systematic
monochromatic
It is possible
Robots do things
The same way
Every time
Real time
Robots do not deviate
From the straight
And narrow
Algorithms think like robots
Robots are checklists of the mind
IBM might tell us
Robots are E-lementary
My Dear Watson
Robotic surgery is
Purportedly
And reportedly
Safer
More predictable
Less invasive
Produces faster recoveries
Reaches inaccessible places
Reduces hospital infections
Hospital marketers love robots
Specialists love new tech, high tech
The media and the public
Love breakthrough news
But I keep thinking
Humans design robots
And therefore
Robots have
Blind spots
And soft spots
And so I wonder
Will robots ever
Think outside the box
Are robots replacements
Or merely human assistants
Maybe, just maybe, robots
Being ever consistent
And error resistant
Will protect us from human terrors
And stretcher-bearers.

Sources

1. “What’s Wrong with the da Vinci Robot?”, Health Leaders Media, January 26, 2012

2. “Robot Cleaners a ‘Game-Changer’ for Hospital Infection Epidemic”, Health Leaders Media, January 27, 2012

Tweet: Maybe robots, being ever consistent and error resistant, will protect us from health care errors and human stretcher bearers.