Computer-aided end-of-life decisions

I have worked and played with computer systems and software for close to 30 years. I have done good and clever work and I have, working late one night in a computer lab, typed delete *.* and rm -r . in system directories.
It's in that spirit of reflection that I read an article that tells me that researchers design computer model to make end-of-life medical decisions.
We learn from the article that "A computer program may predict how patients who are incapacitated wish to be treated more accurately than their loved ones."
My mother insisted that no extraordinary measures be taken to keep her alive. We had many discussions about what were ordinary measures and what were extraordinary, discussions that were interesting on a philosophical level and often overwhelming on a personal level. It probably would have been helpful to have a way to analyze and recognize the current conditions and my mother's wishes. Instead, as one of her friends observed, "We do the best what we are."
And computers do the best of what they are, too.
Except when they're not.