AI—Artificial Intelligence—is often thought of as a kind of creepy, subversive use of information that does everything from allow students to cheat on their term papers to inadvertently promulgate falsehoods. But while it certainly can be misused, it also has amazing potential to do good, including in the care of dogs. It may even be able to help veterinarians pinpoint with better accuracy whether a dog has a heart murmur that would benefit from medication, an echocardiogram that would allow for further evaluation, or a referral to a board-certified veterinary cardiologist. In that way, it can both save people with dogs from spending money unnecessarily if the murmur is in fact not a significant health issue as well as better insure that a dog will receive prompt treatment if he does have a murmur that calls for further testing and/or a consult with a specialist.
