Has Artificial Intelligence Left Doctors Behind?

A Clinical Trial, Personal Observation, and a Deep Journey into the Human + AI Future

Dr. Hakan Tetik – Collectivist; Strategy, Sustainability, Customer and Transformation Expert

Introduction: Entering a New Era

Throughout history, technological revolutions have fundamentally questioned the current order. The steam engine, the discovery of electricity, the birth of the internet… Today, we are in a brand new era: the age of artificial intelligence-supported decision-making.

But artificial intelligence (AI) is not just a technology; it brings a way of thinking, a culture of doing business, and even a new style of leadership .

The role of artificial intelligence in a field like medicine, which is at the center of human life, will shed light on all other fields.

Here in this article, I will not only comment on a medical study, but also offer a perspective on how we should think, learn, and lead in the age of AI.

Research: Response from Stanford

A clinical study published in the journal JAMA Network Open in fall 2024 sheds scientific light on this question.

Title of the study: “Large Language Model Influence on Diagnostic Reasoning”

Participants: 50 doctors (internal medicine, family medicine and emergency services specialists)

· Method: Randomized clinical trial

Groups in the Experiment:

1. Classic Group

   Physicians who only have access to conventional sources (such as Google, etc.).

2. AI-Powered Group

   Doctors who have access to ChatGPT-4 as well as classic resources.

3. Artificial Intelligence Alone

   LLM (Large Language Model) produces case solutions independently of doctors.

Findings:

• Classical doctor group: 74% success

• AI-powered doctors: 76% success

• Artificial intelligence alone: 92% success!

Yes, AI – especially advanced models like GPT-4 – made more accurate diagnoses than doctors alone. But interestingly, AI-assisted doctors failed to make a statistically significant difference.

Why Did This Result Occur?

While these findings may be surprising on the surface, they are extremely instructive when considered in depth:

1. A Tool Is Not the Same as a Skill

A doctor having access to GPT-4 does not make him a better decision maker. It's like giving a musician a Stradivarius... The instrument alone does not create music.

2. Prompt Engineering A New Type of Intelligence

To use artificial intelligence effectively, you need to know how to ask the right questions. The rule of “Whatever you ask, you get” is worth its weight in gold in this field.

3. Lack of Strategic Thinking

Doctors’ decision-making process is based not only on information, but also on how they interpret that information . This experiment also showed that when reflective thinking is not supported by AI, decision quality does not increase.

Notes from My Own Experience

While reading this study, I immediately remembered an incident I experienced myself:

We were working on a case study during the consultancy process with a client of mine who works in the healthcare sector. We produced a solution together with the support of GPT-4. The model's answer was extremely accurate. However, my client had difficulty making sense of and interpreting this answer.

That's when I realized this:

It has become easier to obtain knowledge, but wisdom is still difficult to obtain.

And this doesn't just apply to medicine. Management, finance, marketing, education... No matter what sector we are in: if we don't learn to think with AI, we will be left behind.

So What Should the Business World Do?

In the business world, we hear this sentence more and more often every day:

“Will AI take our jobs?”

This is the wrong question. The correct question should be:

“How can we work better together with AI?”

Here are my suggestions:

1. Start with Education

Include topics like “prompt engineering,” “AI decision making,” and “strategic thinking” in corporate training.

📌 2. Review Processes

Design AI-powered decision processes:– AI segmentation in marketing– AI-powered pre-assessment in HR– Automation and analytics in financial reporting

📌 3. Transform the Culture

Develop cultural transformation strategies that view AI as a “helper” rather than a “threat.”

New Era Leadership: Human + AI

I now define new age leaders as follows:

✔️ People who can think strategically ✔️ People who can talk to AI ✔️ People who can design with AI instead of fearing it

So now a new one has been added to “IQ” and “EQ”: AQ – Artificial Intelligence Quotient

Today's leader is one who can talk both strategy and technology.

3 Questions You Should Talk to Yourself:

1. What percentage of the work I do now could be done with AI?

2. Where am I better than AI? Where am I weaker?

3. How can AI transform my thinking pattern?

   
   

Conclusion: Adaptation, Not Technology, Will Win

This study reminds us that: Artificial intelligence will not replace humans. But humans who work in harmony with AI will replace those who cannot adapt.

This is a common reality not only in the medical world, but in all professions.

Source:

Goh E, Gallo R, et al. “Large Language Model Influence on Diagnostic Reasoning.”JAMA Network Open. 2024.