Healthcare

The use of Artificial intelligence (AI) has grown dramatically across various industries around the world, especially in the healthcare sector where AI supports patients, nurses, and doctors to complete tasks with greater precision, speed and safety. Although countries such as the USA and China are the most advanced in their use of AI, interest in AI use has grown in Australia, especially in healthcare facilities such as nursing homes and hospitals. Despite predictions of AI-related job losses across the Australian economy, we argue that within the Australian healthcare sector the picture is much more complex, and that AI may create more jobs overall and enable clinicians and health care organisations to more efficiently and effectively support the needs of patients and communities in the future. That said, the growth of AI is not without its challenges and negative effects on clinicians, healthcare organisations and patients, especially where it is not managed ethically or strategically by healthcare organisations. This chapter focuses on the significance of AI in the Australian healthcare system and its impact on the work organisation and employment of the healthcare workforce.