MH Conversations and Connections Series – Lunchtime Seminar
Title: Mediation and the Problem of Success in the Use of AI in Medicine
Co-organisers:
Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit, HKUMed
Centre for Medical Ethics and Law, HKU
Medicine & the Muse, Stanford Medicine
Zoom: For pre-registered overseas attendees only, institutional emails must be used rather than private emails to register for the event.
Registration Link: For HKU members / For non-HKU members
Abstract:
The corpus of knowledge that underpins the practice of medicine is based on science, for otherwise, it would be quackery. However, the actual practice of medicine is an art. From the cases of patients’ complaints about doctors in which I was involved as a mediator, it is obvious that, though the complaints could be phrased as complaints about wrong diagnosis or negligence, often, they are more than that. Time and time again, they reinforce my belief that the complaints are due to failure in the art of human interactions, and above all, the lack of empathy on the part of the doctors. With the increasing use of AI in medicine, in its continuing demonstration that the diagnostic skills of AI could well be better than human doctors, what are the implications for the future of the practice of medicine in general, and in the training of doctors for that future in particular? Are there problems in the success of AI in medicine that we have to be aware of and be prepared for?
Speaker:
Dr Ronald Ng
HKUMed alumnus & Haematologist, ICON Haematology
Speaker Bio:
Dr Ronald P Ng, FRCP(Edin) FRCP(G), graduated MBBS in 1969 at The University of Hong Kong with distinction in Internal Medicine and winning the CP Fong Gold Medal in Internal Medicine that year. He was trained in Clinical Haematology at the University Department of Medicine under Prof David Todd, Prof T K Chan, and Prof S C Tso, subsequently becoming Senior Lecturer in Clinical Haematology at University College Hospital Medical School, London University, and then at HK University. He migrated to Singapore in 1984 and worked as a specialist haematologist in the private sector. At the invitation of the Singapore Ministry of Health, which sponsored his training as a mediator, he qualified as a mediator at the Singapore Mediation Center, and is one of the Principal Mediators of that Center. He is also a State Court Mediator for more than 10 years, and in 2024 was the recipient of the Most Outstanding State Court Volunteer of 2024 Award, having had a 100% success rate in mediating the cases the Singapore State Court assigned him. He is also on the panel of Mediators of the Singapore Ministry of Health Holdings, and is on the Education Panel of the Medical Protection Society (MPS) in which capacity he gives workshops to doctors on the subject of “Navigating Adverse Outcome”. Those workshops are to teach doctors how to reduce the risk of being sued after an adverse outcome has occurred. He is married with two children, a computer scientist, Andrew Ng, and a lawyer, Alfred Ng.
Discussant:
Prof Andrew Ng
Founder, DeepLearning.AI
Discussant Bio:
Prof Andrew Ng is the founder of Google Brain and DeepLearning.AI, and co-founder of Coursera. He was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Moderator:
Prof Alex Gearin
Assistant Professor & Deputy Director, Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit, School of Clinical Medicine
Research Fellow, Centre for Medical Ethics and Law, HKU
Welcome to join us!
Enquiry: Please contact Mr Edison Cheng (mehu@hku.hk).
