072IC - Practical Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Practicing Urologists

Learning Objectives
1. Analyze the basics of AI: (1) Apply and elucidate the fundamental principles of AI in a simplified and user-friendly manner. (2) Analyze and discuss the pros and cons, as well as the possibilities and limitations of AI in urological practice. (3) Effectively source and critically evaluate pertinent AI-related literature. (4) Apply this understanding of AI to identify opportunities for its use in their daily clinical practice and research
2. Analyze the use of AI in clinical urology. Upon completion, participants will be able to: (1) Identify and explain the functionalities of cutting-edge AI tools designed to streamline and optimize clinical workflows in urology. (2) Implement AI automation strategies to reduce mundane, repetitive tasks in the outpatient clinic setting. (3) Apply practical methods to incorporate AI into daily routines, including automating outpatient clinic notes and enhancing image analysis. (4) Utilize AI tools to reduce diagnostic errors and improve patient care in their practice.
3. Analyze the use of AI in research urology. Upon completion, participants will be able to: (1) Identify and utilize AI-enabled tools designed to enhance research productivity in urology. (2) Identify and apply formal guidelines governing the ethical and responsible use of AI/ML and ChatGPT in research. (3) Demonstrate the practical application of AI tools in urological research through use case scenarios. (4) Critically evaluate and adhere to ethical guidelines while applying AI/ML in their urological research based on established literature.

Course Description: The constant demands imposed by electronic medical records, and the ever-increasing regulatory burdens, have negatively impacted the ”joy of medicine” for physicians in recent years. Working harder and longer for less, it’s a small wonder that 54% of U.S. urologists are experiencing burnout (Medscape,2021). This negatively impacts urologists in solo private practice, large urology group practice and academics alike. Equally, diagnostic errors are responsible for considerable patient morbidity and mortality. It is past time to deploy sophisticated, artificial intelligence (AI)-automated efficiencies to enhance and support urologists in our daily work. AI is rapidly evolving. As just one example, since its December 2022 introduction, ChatGPT attracted over 100 million new users within the first two months (Bienasz, Entrepreneur,2023); the fastest in history, this is simply astonishing. The health care field has seen a dramatic upswing in AI-related scholarly articles (Cacciamani et al Nat Med,2023), clinical trials, medical devices gaining regulatory approval in the U.S. and funding for health care start-ups. AI/machine learning (ML) has the potential to substantially reshape urology, bringing new opportunities in daily clinical practice and academic research. For example, just in the field of prostate cancer in the past decade, over 1,279 AI/ML papers have been published, with a cumulative annual percent increase of 79% (Cacciamani et al, EurUrol OS,2023). It is imperative for urologists to gain a deeper understanding of AI to maximize its utility and effective integration. This AUA course will focus on three key practical areas: (1) AI Introduction: Unravel the complexities of AI; simplify its essential premise in a user-friendly fashion; discuss pros & cons, possibilities & limitations; show how to source pertinent literature effectively. (2) AI in Clinical Urology: Discuss cutting-edge AI tools designed to streamline and optimize your clinic workflows, including AI automation to reduce the mundane, repetitive aspects of the daily workload in the outpatient clinic for practicing urologists. Practical methods to incorporate AI into your daily routine, from automating outpatient clinic notes, enhancing image analysis, reducing diagnostic errors and aiding in patient care, will be discussed. (3) AI in Urological Research: Introduce an array of AI-enabled tools designed to augment research productivity in urology. Formal guidelines governing the ethical and responsible use of AI/ML and ChatGPT in research will be discussed (Lee et al, NEJM,2023; Cacciamani et al, Nat,2023), with practical use case scenarios in urology. Considering AI's wide-ranging applications in urology, it's imperative to have an AI-proficient mindset for the practicing urologist. Misunderstandings about AI can curtail effective use, collaborative potential and critical appraisal. Despite AI's growing prevalence, a significant educational gap exists among urologists (Cacciamani et al, NatRevUrol,2023). This first-of-its-kind AUA course has been meticulously designed to equip current non-AI users with a simplified, clear understanding of AI and its real-world applications in urology. The course aims to help streamline everyday clinical tasks, improve daily workflow efficiency, enhance productivity, decrease workload, save physician time and increase revenue. The overarching goal is to equip urologists to deftly leverage this exciting new frontier, setting the stage for the future of the field, Urology 2.0.