Why A.I. translation apps can fail doctors and patients.
Medical professionals are increasingly concerned about the risks of using AI translation apps for patient communication. While these tools are convenient, errors in medical translation can lead to severe health consequences for patients with limited English proficiency.
Why it matters
As healthcare systems adopt AI, ensuring patient safety and accurate communication is a critical ethical and legal challenge.
After one of his patients died, Stephen Hibbs believed A.I. could have saved him—at least, at first. His patient, a young Albanian man, died after a bone marrow transplant in East London. He was discharged with a complex postsurgery medication regimen to keep his immune system in check and prevent infection, one that had to be followed perfectly. But he stopped taking one of the medications too soon and he died before he could explain exactly why he stopped. Hibbs, a blood-cancer specialist, couldn’t stop thinking about it. His patient wasn’t fluent in English. Would discharge instructions in his native Albanian have been easier to follow? Could his death have been avoided? Could others?
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