Experts discuss whether AI is a threat or an opportunity
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital radiology registrar Dr Dhaara Bhatt, Queen Victoria Hospital imaging lead and clinical director of strategy/consultant radiologist Dr Ian Francis, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust consultant radiologist and president of The Royal College of Radiologists Dr Nicola Strickland, Princess Alexandra Hospital consultant radiologist Dr Sridhar Redla, University of Warwick professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics Professor Giovanni Montana, Princess Alexandra Hospital consultant radiologist Dr Vijay Jayaram, RCR Informatics Committee and AI Working Group clinical artificial intelligence and predictive analysis researcher Dr Hugh Harvey and Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust consultant radiologist Dr Neelam Dugar.
Artificial intelligence: A threat or an opportunity was the question posed at an event organised by The British Institute of Radiology and The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) in March. The day provided objective and optimistic views on the future of AI with discussion from some of the top experts in the field, to an audience of professionals including radiology trainees, physicists and consultant radiologists.
The panel discussion at the end of the day covered the involvement of radiology trainees in the all-important labelling of studies that AI algorithms require and views around the issues of patient consent given the premise that data is now the new gold.
The panel was unanimous in the fact that AI has benefits to offer for radiological diagnosis and reporting and hence was more of an opportunity than a threat. However, there were issues to be answered, such as assigning liability in the event of a misdiagnosis by AI and AI vendors bypassing radiologists and targeting other clinicians, which is already occurring now. The panel was also unanimous that there is a need for rigorous regulatory framework in place for a balanced and appropriate use of AI.
See the full report on page 3 of the May 2018 issue of RAD Magazine.