Is artificial intelligence (AI) intelligent enough to help make a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS)? Apparently so, and more.
In the United Kingdom, a project named AssistMS is studying whether AI can be used to detect and highlight changes on brain MRIs. An algorithm software called icobrain MS is said to be able to detect lesions in the brain, measure brain volume, and report on how each of these changes over time.
“Neurologists will be able to get a much more accurate idea of how each patient’s disease course is progressing and, in turn, to recommend the best possible treatment for that person,” said Rachel Horne, an MS patient and the patient and public involvement lead for AssistMS.
A study review published in February 2022 in the journal Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders predicts that “with advances made in AI, the way we monitor and diagnose our MS patients can change drastically.”
These researchers reviewed 38 studies covering 5,433 people. Of these, 2,924 were people with MS; the rest were healthy controls. Diagnostic tools such as MRI, OCT, spinal fluid examinations, and simple observations of patients’ movements were compared with AI. Many of the studies reported that AI was 100% correct in detecting signs of MS, and many others reported at least 75% accuracy.
Proceed with caution
It seems as if we can use artificial intelligence in the process of diagnosing, and possibly treating, MS, but does that mean we should use it? In an article published on March 27 in JAMA Network, a trio of researchers suggest we look carefully before we leap.
These doctors caution that AI has “great potential, but early implementations have demonstrated the potential for harm, failure to perform, and furtherance of inequity.” They worry about reviews that, they say, show nearly all algorithms still fail to achieve substantial gains over what a human can do. They worry, too, that in complex AI systems, a lot of investigation is needed to confirm how the AI model arrived at its results.
A headline on an April 15 Bloomberg article puts it more bluntly: “We’re Not Ready to Be Diagnosed by ChatGPT.” Opinion columnist Faye Flam writes that some doctors are already experimenting to see if artificial intelligence can diagnose patients and choose treatments, and she worries about it, writing, “Whether this is good or bad hinges on how doctors use it.”
“It may act like it cares about you, but it probably doesn’t. ChatGPT and its ilk are tools that will take great skill to use well — but exactly which skills aren’t yet well understood,” Flam writes.
Ethics and standards for AI
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