Opinion: Rise of the Robot Radiologists

The first wave of AI-driven job loss among doctors will be in the field of radiology and is poised to force a paradigm shift in medical imaging.

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Although artificial intelligence has raised fears of job loss for many, we doctors have thus far enjoyed a smug sense of security. There are signs, however, that the first wave of AI-driven redundancies among doctors is fast approaching. And radiologists seem to be first on the chopping block.

Diagnostic radiologists are medical doctors who use images to detect and characterize disease. They have become indispensable in modern medicine, often holding the key to diagnosis, prognosis, and management. As a doctor who relies heavily on medical imaging in traumatic and emergent cases, I know first-hand the value of a radiologist’s keen, expert eye.

AI currently outperforms humans in a number of visual tasks including face recognition, lip reading, and visual reasoning. And now, it seems, we can add radiology to the list.

Despite this importance, limitations of modern radiology coupled with dizzying advances in AI are converging to drive automation in ...

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  • Mutaz Musa

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