Communcation across eras.

In this cartoon, an interaction between two doctors is seemingly depicted. One of them communicates that “The patient wants a second opinion from an A.I.” Directly, the concept of ethos is at play here. According to the section “The Classical Period (500 BCE-400 CE)” from Survey of Communication Studies, ethos is essentially “the speaker’s credibility.” In this scenario, the credibility of the doctor is doubted, and the A.I.’s credibility seems to be placed above the doctor’s expertise, from the patient’s point of view.

In my interpretation, this satirical representation of misplacing a doctor’s knowledge of medical science over A.I.’s information is a good example of the context of technology in today’s society of information overload. Health Communication, a “field that focuses on communicating health information interpersonally and to the public,” is touched upon here. While A.I. may provide general information on medical symptoms to the public, they lack the individualistic assessment and “interpersonal” care – or pathos – that human doctors have.

This editorial cartoon of a scenario surrounding the credibility of a human doctor versus an A.I. in medical assessment relates to me, because I would trust (an example of pathos) the assessment of a human doctor, with the aid of technology, rather than artificial intelligence alone.