Utah will become the first state to let AI examine patients and prescribe medications without direct human supervision

A hot potato: Being a doctor is one of the jobs expected to be least threatened by AI replacement. But a new program launched in Utah raises questions about that assumption. A healthcare startup will begin offering AI exams and prescriptions to patients without direct human supervision, making Utah the first state to replace a doctor with AI.

The good news is that the program is currently very limited in scope. It only lasts one year and is reserved for patients with mild to moderate acne.

The process works when a person signs up for Nolla Health’s $4.99-a-month app and uses it to scan their face. After filling out a medical history and personal information form, the AI ​​analyzes their skin, identifies the acne problem, rates the oiliness of the skin, then generates a numerical acne severity score ranging from fair skin to severe acne, Bloomberg reports.

The AI ​​then combines this score with the medical information provided to recommend medications from a list of eight approved treatments.

Although the program will eventually become fully automated, the first 100 prescriptions will need to be reviewed by real doctors before being submitted to the pharmacy.

In the second phase, the next 400 patients will have their prescriptions submitted to pharmacies by AI and retrospectively reviewed by a doctor every week.

The final phase will involve a doctor reviewing at least 10% of the total prescriptions issued once a month.

We have repeatedly seen the dangers of trusting AI when it comes to medical/health advice. One of the most famous cases occurred last year when a 60-year-old man took ChatGPT’s advice and replaced the salt in his diet with sodium bromide, causing bromism, a psychiatric disorder uncommon since the 19th century.

In March, Google quietly discontinued an AI-powered search feature called What People Suggest, which offered crowdsourced health advice from people who shared similar medical conditions or experiences. The move came just months after the company removed several of its AI previews following a report revealing that inaccurate information was being presented to users, potentially putting their health at risk.

In the case of Nolla Health, CEO Luis Wenus said the side effects of the eight approved drugs are limited to localized skin irritation or dryness. Prescriptions are also limited to topical medications rather than pills.

Although a small program, it could be the very first step toward AI replacing doctors, or at least being used to treat less serious illnesses in patients.