The Effects of Falsification Machines on the Quality of Clinical Decision-Making

Abstract

Decision Support Systems (DSS) assists users while making a decision by providing suggestions. When using a DSS, issues such as less meaningful human control and a responsibility gap appear. These systems however can also be accompanied (or replaced) by a Falsification Machine (FM), which thinks ‘against’ the user. In the case of clinical decision-making, a combination of these two systems could lead to a smaller percentage of misdiagnosed patients and could increase meaningful human control and decrease a responsibility gap. An experiment on medical students was conducted with the goal to gather more understanding on the preference, accuracy and control while using a DSS with case-irrelevant questions versus a DSS in combination with an FM. This study suggests that the use of an FM may have an effect on the subject’s final decision. Moreover, users seem to prefer a DSS in combination with an FM more, and there appears to be an increase in control with the use of an FM. Due to a small sample size, which reduces the confidence of the study, further research is advised.