The AI doctor will see you soon. We don’t have a plan for that

In the movie Elysium, set in the year 2154, Matt Damon plays Max Da Costa, a criminal lowlife trying his damndest to leave Earth. Up above, the wealthy elite live on a ring-shaped space station, where disease and poverty have been eradicated. Most of the population, however, still lives on Earth, and they are struggling to survive each day. They can only dream of ever making it to the space station in the sky. But for Max, getting to Elysium is a matter of survival: He needs access to healthcare that can save his own life. Even in the imaginary world of Elysium, 125 years into the future, high-quality, AI-driven healthcare is only for the privileged few. The ultrawealthy, who were able to escape an impoverished and overpopulated planet, live in tranquil luxury in space. This dystopian portrayal of healthcare’s vast inequities is unfortunately more realistic than we would like to believe. But our future doesn’t have to be this stark. Imagine Sam, a man in his 50s who walks into his doctor’s office complaining of chest pain. First, the doctor asks Sam about his symptom history and risk factors; then doctor performs a physical assessment, taking vitals like heart rate and blood press…