At this point, almost everyone knows about AI and uses it to some extent daily (at times unknowingly!). How about the professionals? This week, I decided to dive into the use of AI in medicine and check whether doctors should be excited or worried about this technology at their workplace.
Last week, a few of my classes focused on using AI in our everyday tasks. We talked about students’ attitudes regarding the topic and whether they find it useful or believe it is overrated. Naturally, this made me think of another burning topic – the use of AI at work and whether workers are afraid of losing jobs to the new technology. The first group that I thought of were doctors.
This lesson includes a presentation, a worksheet, and teacher’s notes. They all focus on real-life examples of AI in medicine. You can download the materials for free at the end of the post.
The topic of AI is introduced by showing pictures of everyday objects and services that use AI. At this point, students don’t know what they have in common and need to figure out the topic of the class by discussing the items and speculating how they are related. The items include a smartphone, social media, autonomous vehicles, smart TVs, digital personal assistants, and navigation. Collect and compare ideas from different groups and reveal the topic. Put students into their groups once again and ask them to discuss which application of AI shown in pictures is the most beneficial for them. Finish this part of the class by eliciting some ideas with justifications.
Now it’s time for a video about the use of AI in medicine. Before watching the beginning of the video, ask students to talk about the title question – Can your doctor be replaced by AI? Discuss the answers as a group and then watch the beginning of the Gizmodo video Can your doctor be replaced by AI? Once you finish watching the introduction to the video, elicit the answer given by Doctor Erik K. Oearmann and whether students agree with him or not.
Since the rest of the video talks about the uses of AI in medicine – its benefits and drawbacks, I thought it could be a good idea for students to do the same without any prior knowledge. Put students into two groups – group A makes a list of the advantages, and group B makes a list of the disadvantages of AI in medicine. Once the lists are made, students swap partners and discuss their ideas. The goal of this debate is to decide whether there is a future for AI in medicine.
Watch the rest of the video (0:33 – 3:29) and check the answers. Talk about the advantages and disadvantages of AI in medicine and discuss if students currently use AI at work. If not, would they consider it in the future?
This next part focuses on the comprehension of some vocabulary items. I must admit that at times Doctor Oermann was difficult to understand, therefore I think that focusing on some words could be beneficial. Students read five sentences and fill in the gaps with the missing words. All items are either well-known collocations or statements which will be the focus of the next and final speaking task. Watch the video (0:33 – 3:29) again and write the words. Check the answers and correct any spelling errors.
The class ends with a pair discussion of the ideas mentioned in the video. Students go over the list of statements and discuss whether they agree with the points made by Doctor Oearmann or not. Monitor the activity and provide any speaking feedback as needed. Finish the class by sharing students’ opinions about the use of AI in medicine.
Do you use AI at work? How do you use it? If not, why do you stay away from it?
