Would AIs make better professionals than humans?

https://midwest-dental.com/revolutionizing-dentistry-through-artificial-intelligence/

Might AI systems make better…

• Detectives?
• Doctors?
• Fashion designers?
• Financial advisors?
• Teachers?

I was a bit taken aback when I received the email pictured above from my local dentist. The woman who stabs at my gums twice a year and lectures me about flossing needs the help of AI to do her job well? Should I be concerned? 

What might (and I emphasize might) AI offer in professional services that mere humans cannot? It probably has access to a larger amount of information and data on which to base decisions. It may be able to make those decisions in a more timely manner. It might be able to more clearly communicate the resulting information and recommendations.

Perhaps it has already been done, but a good Sherlockian AI detective that has a human Watson (or a human detective with an AI Watson) might make a very interesting mystery novel. Should police detectives, espionage agents, and forensic accountants all be replaced with these digital geniuses? 

One quality that AI may put to extremely positive use would be objectivity - a lack of personal biases or prejudices. Properly programmed, my financial advisor AI should not be advising me to invest in areas where the advisor would get the biggest fee, but where I would stand to make the biggest return at the lowest risk. Would my AI dentist or doctor only recommend those procedures and medications that have proven rate of effectiveness not the most kickback from pharmaceutical companies? Would an AI intelligence agent be more likely to uncover double-agents in the office?

How might AI improve educational practices? When Learning Management Systems started rolling out in the 2000s, I had the high expectation that they would be the impetus for Individual Education Plans for all students, not just those needing special services. LMSs as they currently are constructed still require a great deal of human input - differentiated learning materials, individual performance measures, and separate learning activities and assessments for each student. What has proven to be too much work for teachers with a big class load. Might, just might, AI step in to help run these LMSs? Knowing an individual student’s skill levels, learning goals, and the range of learning materials available, an AI just might be able to design the most effective IEP possible. 

As a librarian at heart, I believe that the more information and resources one has available, the better solutions to problems are possible. I believe emotions or personal biases decrease good judgment. Can AI offer heretofore impossible levels of rational recommendations? Or will the biases of the programmers seep into the nature of their AI creations as well? 

As an optimist at heart, I would like to believe each daily revelation of a new use of AI is taking us to a future filled with C3POs rather than Terminators; Datas not HALs. But I’d not bet any money of the outcome.