I'm always somewhat leery about these sort of predictions since to my mind they seem to miss that being a doctor is often more than just making diagnoses and deciding on a treatment - it's also about having a relationship with the patient, especially when it comes to primary care practitioners (like GPs in the UK) and specialists for long term conditions (such as my father, an oncologist, who has patients he's been seeing for ten or fifteen years since their initial diagnosis and treatment).
Not withstanding that people are generally more comfortable and willing to submit personal information to a fellow human who they know and trust, there's also things like how does a computer tell the difference between a little old lady with a problem, and a little old lady who's just lonely and uses going to her GP as a way to get some human contact every few weeks. Her GP will likely know the difference though, because she's known the little old lady for the last five years and has realised that her visits aren't about the vague symptoms she's presenting, but the ten minute chat she has with the doctor.
>> people are generally more comfortable and willing to submit personal information to a fellow human who they know and trust
There was some research(can't find it now) , that show that filling an automated form is a good way to make patient elicit personal embarrassing info that they wouldn't offer via chat.
>> difference between a little old lady with a problem, and a little old lady who's just lonely
First that's a nurse can easily do. And maybe, hopefully we'll find ways to solve the loneliness issue.
Proper care of the elderly is another problem that society should address without racking up insane health care costs just so a little old lady has someone to chit chat with. There are certainly more fruitful (and cheaper) ways to solve that.
Not withstanding that people are generally more comfortable and willing to submit personal information to a fellow human who they know and trust, there's also things like how does a computer tell the difference between a little old lady with a problem, and a little old lady who's just lonely and uses going to her GP as a way to get some human contact every few weeks. Her GP will likely know the difference though, because she's known the little old lady for the last five years and has realised that her visits aren't about the vague symptoms she's presenting, but the ten minute chat she has with the doctor.