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The Wall Street Journal has a lengthy article detailing a problem for the IBM Watson artificial intelligence (AI) platform. The company offers several services aimed at better treating cancer, but so far no clinical trials have shown that Watson improved outcomes.
In related news, researchers from Google’s DeepMind subsidiary have published a paper in Nature Medicine which claims that its AI is about as accurate as a human physician at diagnosing eye diseases. In tests, the system made the same diagnosis as a panel of eight doctors more than 94 percent of the time. An ophthalmologist involved with the study said, “The number of eye scans we’re performing is growing at a pace much faster than human experts are able to interpret them. There is a risk that this may cause delays in the diagnosis and treatment of sight-threatening diseases. If we can diagnose and treat eye conditions early, it gives us the best chance of saving people’s sight. With further research it could lead to greater consistency and quality of care for patients with eye problems in the future.”
