Zoë Liem

No ratings yet.

Currently, we are in the 4^th industrial revolution (Marr, 2019). Technologies are evolving quickly and we have to keep up, otherwise we will be left behind (Marr, 2019). One of those quickly changing technologies is Artificial Intelligence (AI) (Duan, Edwards, & Dwivedi, 2019). The rise of AI is partly because of supercomputing power and big data technologies (Duan et al., 2019). AI could be defined as the ability of machines to further develop themselves with the help of previous experiences, adjusting to new inputs, and having the ability to perform human-like tasks (Duan et al., 2019).

AI and the Internet of Things (IoT) also influence the healthcare industry (Philips, 2020). A recent development in the healthcare industry is the emerging technology of personalized and predictive healthcare (Marr, 2019). This is needed since patients are demanding personal care and do not want to be treated like ‘everyone else’ (Philips, 2020).

This emerging technology will come in different forms. First of all, patient treatments will know more personalized approaches, also called precision medicine (Marr, 2019). This will enable doctors to be more precise with prescribing medicines and applying treatments. In addition, AI will provide a better understanding of how different people’s bodies will react to certain diseases and which way of treatment will work best (Marr, 2019). Some real-life examples of the use of AI and IoT in healthcare are: detecting early signals of deterioration of patients, giving predictive care at home for at-risk patients, and the ability to recognize equipment maintenance needs before they occur (Philips, 2020).

A way to gather such information on people is through wearables like smartwatches (Marr,2019). In these wearables, sensors are included that measure heart rate, daily steps and more. This enables firms to gather data from human vital signs and activities (de Arriba Pérez, Caeiro Rodriguez & Santos, 2016). A question that arises is whether this is ethically responsible?

References

De Arriba Pérez, F., Caeiro Rodriguez M., & Santos J. M. (2016). Collection and processing of data from wrist wearable devices in heterogeneous and multiple-user scenarios. Sensors, 16(9), 1538.

Duan, Y., Edwards, J. S., & Dwivedi, Y. K. (2019). Artificial Intelligence for decision making in the era of big data- evolution, challenges and research agenda. International Journal of Information Management, 48, 63-71.

Marr, B. (2019, 30 Sep). The 7 biggest technology trends in 2020 everyone must get ready for now. [online’]. Forbes. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/09/30/the-7-biggest-technology-trends-in-2020-everyone-must-get-ready-for-now/#49fcfe0b2261 [Accessed 06-10-2020].

No ratings yet.

The rise of social media is resulting in increased data surveillance (van der Schyff, Flowerday & Furnell, 2020). Social media data is used by corporates to better target their consumers and has enabled them to flourish (van der Schyff et al., 2020). Social media use and data surveillance are correlated in the sense that the more users engage with social media, the more data surveillance is becoming the standard (van der Schyff et al., 2020). In addition, van der Schyff et al. (2020) argued that on the long-term, data surveillance will not only have an effect on users’ information privacy but also their behavior and freedom offline. So, next to positive outcomes, the use of social media also has negative outcomes.

As mentioned data surveillance can have a negative side. For instance, a Chinese tech company, called Zhenhua, recently came into the light because of a leaked database (Hurst, Kuo & Graham-Mclay, 2020). This database contained information on 2.4 million known and unknown people worldwide. This included well-known people such as politicians, celebrities, military people, and royals. Believed is that the company has linkages with the Chinese military and intelligence networks and that the information gathered is used to get a better understanding of how to practice influence (Hurst et al., 2020).

This database is called The overseas key information database (Hurst et al., 2020). Although sources say otherwise, the company itself claims that all data gathered is public data and that they do not have any connections to the government. A spokesman of Zhenhua mentioned that the database is solely used to link social media users to their online activity (Hurst et al., 2020).

To conclude, the use of social media comes with increased risks, such as surveillance of data. A company like Zhenzua is not the only one collecting data of users through social media, and users should be aware of what information of them is out there.

References

Hurst, D., Kuo, L., & Graham-Mclay, C. (2020). Zhenzua data leak: personal details of millions around the world gathered by Chinese tech company [online]. The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/14/zhenhua-data-full-list-leak-database-personal-details-millions-china-tech-company

Schyff van der, K., Flowerday, S., & Furnell, S. (2020). Duplicitous social media and data surveillance: an evaluation of privacy risk. Computers & Security, 94, 101822.

How can Artificial Intelligence be used in the healthcare industry?

7

Please rate this