AI & Medicine

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Artificial intelligence could soon replace human doctors not only in treating patients but also to diagnose disease. Korean researchers are developing artificial intelligence that can read MRI and computer tomography images.

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A five-year-old child receives an X-ray exam to determine the age of his bones. When the X-ray images are inserted in a computer, it automatically finds images of the most similar bone age and identifies the age of the child's bones. In the past, doctors had to compare each image personally, but now this task can be performed by a computer program.

[Soundbite] Prof. Lee Jin-sung(Asan Medical Center) : "In the past, we had to find similar images in textbooks, but now we can do it in a more convenient way by using this computer program, which automatically finds the right images."

Korean researchers have gone a step further by launching the development of "artificial intelligence doctors" that can read computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. The new technology will be introduced at hospitals after four years of research, which will cost approximately 8.5 million U.S. dollars. Artificial intelligence doctors, which evolve on their own through "deep learning," will be utilized at the most important stage - diagnosis - by using a countless number of patients' images.

[Soundbite] Seo Jun-beom(Director of AI Medical Image Processing Project) : "In many cases, medical images are read visually in a subjective way. This kind of quantification can enhance the accuracy of image reading."

Experts say that if the trend continues, in ten years from now more than half of human doctors will be replaced with artificial intelligence.