The truth about COVID’s origins has now emerged: the very people who drove gain-of-function research that went catastrophically wrong were also the ones writing the rules for “protecting the public”—and lying at every turn. More than 7 million deaths, countless destroyed businesses, and an entire generation’s ruined education are the direct results of reckless, self-serving decisions by “Public Health” officials who prioritized their own power and personal financial interests over the public good. Not to mention the damaging societal changes that have left many people literally afraid to interact face-to-face, condemning them to lonely and solitary lives.
Who are these “Public Health” officials? Specialists in Public Health and Preventive Medicine are not typically recruited from the higher-performing students in a medical school class; the Public Health specialty has traditionally been less competitive than procedure-oriented or higher-income specialties such as dermatology, orthopedic surgery, and plastic surgery, and is often perceived by medical students as less prestigious or desirable, Those who self-select for this specialty are consigning themselves to careers spent working in institutional basements, navigating tedious red tape, wrestling with abstract mathematics, and combing through the literature for obscure trends.
Imagine these Public Health troglodytes being thrust suddenly into the limelight, fawned over by the media, and granted the power to control every facet of everyone’s life. Such power can have a narcotic effect. The COVID-19 pandemic, through the falsification of information, distortion of data, and suppression of significant scientific findings, helped concentrate control over entire countries into the hands of the very “Public Health” officials who had sworn to protect their populations. The resulting misery and suffering are well documented.
Would the public have been better served by an Augmented Intelligence–directed Public Health Authority? AI has no political affiliation or agenda, seeks neither media attention nor professional honors, and has no interest in cultivating relationships with celebrities or pursuing personal enrichment. Assuming proper design and governance, it can apply scientific standards consistently, require research data to substantiate claims, and identify and reject assertions that are unsupported or undocumented. It can also analyze broad trends in real time and continuously incorporate relevant new evidence to generate updated recommendations aimed at improving public health outcomes.
Taken together, the vast body of knowledge required to understand and oversee public health, along with the current bureaucracy’s evident shortcomings in preventing and managing common diseases, including COVID-19 and influenza, makes the potential and necessity of Augmented Intelligence unmistakable. The crucial question, therefore, is not whether Augmented Intelligence should have a role in public health, but which functions genuinely require human input?
About the author
Dr. Freedman is a founder and past president, American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, a co-founder, Canadian Academy for Esthetic Dentistry, Regent and Fellow, International Academy for Dental Facial Esthetics, and a Diplomate and Chair of the American Board of Aesthetic Dentistry. Adjunct Professor of Dental Medicine, Western University, Pomona, California. Author of 14 textbooks and > 1000 dental articles.
George Freedman BSc, DDS, FIADFE, DiplABD, FAACD, FASDA, FPFA on behalf of the Artificial Intelligence Journal of Medicine and Dentistry (AIMEDENT Journal) – georgefreedmandds@gmail.com