It seems like every week there’s another publicized instance of our impending replacement by artificial intelligence. Big Data, they say, is going to free us of the cognitive burdens of complex thought while maximizing healthcare outcomes. This latest entry is the “AI Clinician”, which has been created as a demonstration for the treatment of sepsis. Or, rather more narrowly, the AI Clinician tries to prescribe the balance of fluids and vasopressors. In this predictive feat of strength, decision models were created based on retrospective data sets comprised of tens of thousands of patients meeting Sepsis-3 criteria. Each patient’s clinical trajectory was described by their receipt of intravenous fluids or vasopressors in four-hour blocks, and the ultimate outcome of 90-day survival designated as the reward or penalty for their model.

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