The AI revolution is upon us, and Labour is hoping it could help rescue an NHS in crisis. At a recent Institute for Government event, Karin Smyth, shadow minister for health, described how a Labour government will “hold the door open” for tech companies. But the tech-utopian visions Labour is being sold are not cost free: they could fundamentally reshape our relationships with our doctors and our own health, and undermine the founding principles on which the NHS is built. While tech companies flog AI magic, civil society must act as a counterbalance to temper the hype and remind the NHS about what really matters.
The Tory government also hopes that unlocking “the incredible power that [health] data possesses” can drive innovation, reduce costs and improve healthcare. The optimism crosses the parliamentary divide. The consensus is based on a vision of AI’s role in analysing medical health records and diagnostics, such as the early detection of Parkinson’s from eye scans or the “personalised AI doctor” extolled by the Tony Blair Institute in its recent report. It encompasses a top-to-bottom transformation of the healthcare system: from chatbots in mental health apps, to waiting list prioritisation algorithms, to supporting the discovery of new medicines.
