Christina Pagel is a medical researcher who dabbled in quantum physics, before settling down to statistically modeling diseases. Eric Topol interviewed her on Medscape where she highlighted how complacent Western nations have become. We assumed our medical systems would make us COVID-proof, she says. Therefore we were not interested in what South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan had to say. Are the lessons of COVID going over the tops of our heads too, she asks.
Are the Lessons of COVID Actually Medical?
Christina Pagel believes medical is not the leading issue. That’s because she tends to approach COVID as a lifestyle disease with poor ventilation at the core. “It’s about how we maintain our economy, and our quality of life and our health,” she explains. “In a way that allows us all to enjoy our lives the way that we want to.”
“Cleaner air works on any variant, and any airborne disease,” she continues. “It helps against pollution; it helps against all kinds of things. And moreover it doesn’t take away anyone’s freedoms.” Yet people continue to insist this is secondary, and go chasing after ultimate vaccines. Is this a ‘clash of cultures’, of ways of doing things?
Should We Look for Solutions in Artificial Intelligence?
Christina Pagel’s reaction was quite surprising, when Eric Topol asked her if the lessons of COVID lie in artificial intelligence. It helps having better data sooner, she admits. “But we still need practical, on-the-ground solutions like enough nurses and equipment and just old-fashioned doctoring. Artificial intelligence’s specialism is pattern recognition, not healing.”
Moreover, AI is less effective in routine healthcare, she continues. “We can’t predict, say, occupancy in a year’s time. Because what’s going to cause occupancy in a year’s time is not contained in those data.” So for now at least, it seems to us we’ll have to rely on good old-fashioned ventilation, and person-to-person care, with AI observing in the background.
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