Vets seek to steer innovation their own way

An initiative that aims to protect vets’ jobs from being washed away in a tide of innovative medical technology has been launched by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

The opportunities and dangers of technical innovation for traditional veterinary practices were discussed at a meeting in London on 20 September where the RCVS’s Vivet programme was launched.

Richard Susskind, author of The Future of the Professions: How technology will transform the work of human experts, argued that artificial intelligence systems will replace the skills that underpin the livelihoods of all professional groups. It is already happening in human medicine, accountancy, architecture and even the clergy—where an app called Confession for assessing sins and giving options for their absolution has been approved by the Vatican as a preliminary step before contacting a real priest, he said.