Clinical management of sepsis can be improved by artificial intelligence: no

Excerpt

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science that generates multifaceted algorithms and rules as tools to solve complex problems that would be difficult—or almost impossible—for humans. But, can computers reason? They can certainly calculate—with astonishing speed and ever-increasing power—and they have driven scientific advances that would have been impossible without them. Even so, we are eager to believe that, for some puzzles, there’s no substitute for old-fashioned human knowledge and intuition. But this view may be changing. One of the most challenging puzzles is sepsis. Sepsis is a common and life-threatening syndrome, and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Early identification of patients who would benefit from rapid initiation of individualized sepsis-related interventions is crucial to reduce associated mortality. Regrettably, neither clinical signs nor laboratory tests are specific of sepsis as the previous clinical case illustrates. Although many biomarkers have been assessed for ruling out or confirming sepsis, none has sufficient accuracy to be routinely employed in clinical practice [1]. …