The BBC reports that the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust is the latest NHS trust to begin using artificial intelligence tools to analyse chest X-ray results as part of lung cancer diagnoses. Described as a “second pair of eyes” for radiologists, the idea is to prioritise X-rays that the AI considers to show danger signs so that they can be reviewed by a human sooner.
This is one of several ways that AI models may be integrated into cancer treatment over the coming years – my partner is an oncology doctor, and has mentioned to me the growing move towards AI tools in tasks such as planning radiotherapy treatments.
In the current environment of polarised opinions around AI, and given the technology's hugely negative environmental impact, it's always encouraging to see an application that hopefully has the potential to do good. I'm pleased to see the emphasis on helping experts do their job and exercise their human judgment, rather than getting in the way or trying to replace them.
Whatever your position on the technology, this news certainly shows how committed the government is to investing in AI and bringing it into practical use. Rolling this X-ray review tool out across all NHS trusts so quickly would have been unbelievable just a few years ago.
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