Critiquing as a modality for computer advice in medical management and work-up

The question of how best to adapt computer advice to clinical practice is especially important in a domain as complex and sensitive as medicine. The traditional approach has been to design systems which in some sense simulate a physician's decision-making and attempt to formulate similar conclusions. A recent study [1] suggests, however, that no matter how good such a system's advice is, its clinical value will be greatly diminished if it is not able to explain and justify its conclusions and recommendations to its user.