Google's DeepMind AI can now diagnose eye diseases with the accuracy of 'world-leading'...

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In brief: In modern healthcare clinics, doctors can quickly become overworked. They have piles of scans to sift through, and dozens of patients to see, which can lead to mistakes. However, Google's DeepMind AI may be able to mitigate this problem in the future - it can now accurately diagnose over 50 "sight-threatening" illnesses in a matter of seconds.

The fear that technology and artificial intelligence will eventually replace many jobs was once a ridiculous notion. However, over time, machine learning and robotics have advanced enough that those concerns are becoming a reality.

Robots have already proven capable of replacing factory and food preparation jobs, but some professions have always seemed safe, such as the practice of medicine. After all, how could an AI replace a human's intuition or attention to detail?

Well, it seems that's precisely what Google has accomplished with DeepMind. The company's neural network-based AI is famous for playing against (and beating) top Chess and Go players in the past, but now it's making a splash in the medical community as well.

In partnership with the Moorfields Eye Hospital, Google has announced that DeepMind can now diagnose more than 50 "sight-threatening" eye diseases with the same accuracy you'd expect from "world-leading" doctors.

As the DeepMind team notes in a blog post, doctors, however skilled they may be, are only human - it can take them quite some time to sift through their pile of eye scans and diagnose various illnesses.

This delay can lead to patients losing their eyesight due to rapidly-progressing diseases. The DeepMind team says this is precisely the issue they want to prevent moving forward. Google's AI can interpret an optical coherence tomography scan in mere seconds, which could drastically improve the quality of a given patient's care.

If this technology sounds interesting to you, don't get too excited. Although early results are promising, there's no guarantee that DeepMind or similar tech will ever be used in actual clinics.

There are numerous regulatory hurdles for the AI creators to overcome, not to mention the moral questions that will inevitably be raised about allowing machines to diagnose humans.

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I don't think one will ever replace the other (Either way) and more of something like working... eye to eye :HoratiofromCSIMiamitakingoffsunglassesYEAAAAAAAAHHHH:
 
Actually, after having seen and read about the "quality" of many in the medical profession, this is one advancement that would be completely welcome in my area of the world!
This is so true, I should've added that in my previous post. It's unbelievable how much of a difference a bad from an average doctor makes, and then from an average to a good one it's like heaven and earth different.
 
I don't know why every eye doctor on the planet wouldn't want one of these things. The machine makes a presumptive analysis, the doctor checks the machine's output and then makes a daignosis. There's no reason for medical professionals not to desire such a great tool. Already there's a huge range of technology we use to diagnose other conditions, this doesn't seem alien at all to me.

Apart from my retina scan being loaded into the Google machine and used to target adverts at me once my sight returns to normal. :D.
 
I honestly don't think robots will take out humans job to do this and that.
It'll still take many people to work along side robots doing something like this for example.
The only thing that fears me is the AI taking responsibility on its own and hurting people by miscalculations.
 
If AI and Robotics are needed anywhere, it's in the health profession. I'm not sure what its like elsewhere but the NHS in the uk is Overworked and Understaffed. Nursing in particular is hit really hard... If every ward had robotic nurses that could replace the work of a few nursing staff. I think it would be very beneficial.

The only issue would be cost. If robotics is too expensive then it could put the NHS in a worse financial position. Too cheap and human staff could be replaced completely...
 
That would be cool and all but people that work in the medical field are expected to have top notch accuracy.
I don't want to be on some metal table one day in the future and Robot 411 makes a critical error that makes me blind permanently or I can't walk.
 
That would be cool and all but people that work in the medical field are expected to have top notch accuracy.
I don't want to be on some metal table one day in the future and Robot 411 makes a critical error that makes me blind permanently or I can't walk.
Expectations and realities are far different. I don't think the robot is going to make a critical error because it's towards the end of a 16 hours shift and is secretly eating the goodies in the medicine cabinet to stay awake, which is a far more common situation at this stage.
 
Expectations and realities are far different. I don't think the robot is going to make a critical error because it's towards the end of a 16 hours shift and is secretly eating the goodies in the medicine cabinet to stay awake, which is a far more common situation at this stage.
You need to work in the medical field to get a better understanding of what I'm saying.
Not saying it to be a **** but ive seen computer errors cause serious issues for patients.
 
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