The AI Future of Emergency Medicine

In the coming years, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will likely give rise to profound changes in the field of emergency medicine, and medicine more broadly. This article discusses these anticipated changes in terms of 3 overlapping yet distinct stages of AI development. It reviews some fundamental concepts in AI and explores their relation to clinical practice, with a focus on emergency medicine. In addition, it describes some of the applications of AI in disease diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment, as well as some of the practical issues that they raise, the barriers to their implementation, and some of the legal and regulatory challenges they create.