VIDEO: AI cannot replace GI physicians, but ‘with supervision’ may enhance IBD care
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
In a Healio video exclusive, Edward V. Loftus Jr., MD, acknowledged that although artificial intelligence has potential to radically change the way gastroenterologists practice medicine, “it’s not going to replace you.”
In the June issue of Healio Gastroenterology, the cover story explores the meteoric rise of AI in medicine, focused on technology capable of engaging text, images and other data to replicate expert medical opinion with the added benefits of standardization, reproducibility and speed. In medical specialties such as gastroenterology and hepatology that rely on extensive imaging studies for early detection and adjustments to patient treatment, the clinical benefits are apparent.
“As we know, AI is a hot topic these days, for better or for worse,” Loftus, the Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Professor of Gastroenterology at the Mayo Clinic told Healio. “This article interviews a number of experts about various aspects of AI in IBD; for example, how it could enhance endoscopic grading of severity of inflammation, either the Mayo score in ulcerative colitis or perhaps the Simple Endoscopic Score in Crohn’s disease.”
However, despite its considerable benefits, Loftus cautioned that AI is simply a tool, and implementing this technology into practice requires that the physician be kept in the loop to provide feedback.
“The bottom-line message is that AI is very promising but not quite ready for primetime,” he said. “If you’re going to be using AI in your practice, you have to use it with a lot of supervision. It’s not going to replace you it might enhance your ability to do your job, but again, careful attention to detail and supervision is necessary to make sure that it’s implemented properly.”
Collapse
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts