How would you feel if your fate was in the "hands" of a computer?
The idea may not be as far-fetched as you think:
A new study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) says that computers, using a mathematical formula, could determine the wishes of incapacitated patients as accurately as—if not better than—their family members or close friends.
In the study, Wendler and his colleagues proposed this scenario: a 70-year-old Native American male, with a PhD and severe Alzheimer's, develops a life-threatening infection. If the patient's treatment or non-treatment preference is unknown, doctors would typically turn to his designated next of kin surrogate for guidance. But under Wendler's plan, a proposed computer software program, dubbed the "population-based treatment indicator," would make the choice by locating the profiles of similar patients—in terms of age, race, education, illness and other factors—and matching the most popular treatment choice for that group with one of the current patient's options.
The researchers analyzed nearly 20,000 surrogate and patient decisions, and discovered that surrogates are imperfect predictors of what a patient might want, getting it right only about two thirds of the time. Wendler says the proposed treatment indicator could add a layer of accuracy to the process.
But the idea of a computer program making life-or-death decisions is controversial, to say the least. It not only raises ethical questions, such as whether or not a mathematical formula can be a substitute for emotional human connections, but critics say that it would be a Herculean—if not impossible—task to compile the database required from which to draw information to make such monumental decisions.
------> still more >>>>>>> wait until next dawn.
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