I suppose very much a classic trope of the science fiction thriller, which is the question of ultimately what fault lies in the technology versus what responsibility lies with humanity. Mix that with the increasing corporatization of healthcare in the U.S., and my premise was born. I thought, this is a big deal because what if we did one day achieve the goal of an advanced medical AI, but it turned out to be ultimately flawed at a very deep level. It was about six years ago that I first had the idea for the novel when I read about some of the mistakes AI tools were making (like the misclassification of photos on Google), revealing the datasets (essentially: the Internet) that had been used to train the AI had led to racist and sexist outputs. If AI could help with the data sorting, sure, who wouldn’t want that?

Meanwhile, the amount of data we’re obtaining on our patients is ever-increasing, along with options for cancer therapies. But in the mid-2010s, that all fizzled out without much fanfare. During the 2010s, there was a lot of talk about IBM’s Watson (a machine-learning AI) having a role in helping oncologists sort data and test results for our patients to help us define treatment. In my day job, I’m a hematologist/oncologist (a specialist in blood and cancer medicine). What inspired you to write “The Algorithm Will See You Now”? I’m now a novelist and award-winning essayist, along with being a rural physician, wife, and mom (to three humans and two of the canine persuasion). My first novel, The Algorithm Will See You Now (Black Rose Writing Press), is a near-future medical thriller, out now in paperback and ebook. My second novel (The Committee Will Kill You Now) will be out later this year, in November 2023 (also Black Rose Writing Press). I’m a mid-career physician who discovered my writing muse on my path back from physician burnout in my forties. A staggering plan capable of reducing human lives to their DNA code, redefining the concepts of sickness and health, and delivering the power of life and death decisions into the hands of those behind the AI.Įven if the algorithm accidentally discards some who are treatable in order to make that happen… The Director, Marah Maddox, is plotting a use for the AI far outside the ethical bounds of her physician’s oath. Soon, Hope is made the scapegoat for a patient’s death, and only Jacie Stone, a gifted intern with a knack for computer science, is willing to help search for the truth.īut her patient’s death is only the tip of the conspiracy’s iceberg. What the Seattle surgeon doesn’t know is the AI has a hidden fatal flaw, and the people covering it up will stop at nothing to dominate the world’s healthcare - and its profits. Medical treatment determined by artificial intelligence could do more than make Hope Kestrel’s career. The most dangerous lies are the ones that use the truth to sell themselves.

Algorithm of life book