Embracing AI

AI has long been a popular subject in science fiction, with much of the focus on how the technology can go badly wrong.

The reality of artificial intelligence — at least in medicine, and in particular at Indiana University School of Medicine — is very different. In fact, AI is already being used to help speed research. It’s helping clinicians offer better care for patients. And we’re just getting started.

This edition of IU MEDICINE looks at some of the ways AI is being used around the School of Medicine and by our clinical partners at IU Health.

Radiologists are using AI to review X-rays and CTs, drawing their attention to suspicious areas of a patient’s imaging. It’s helping them manage an ever-growing workload. Pathologists are deploying AI to analyze blood smears and bone marrow aspirates so they can make diagnoses more efficiently and accurately. It’s beginning to be adopted by physicians as a scribe, enabling them to focus on their patient rather than typing notes into a computer.

When it comes to research, our scientists are using AI programs to detect cancer sooner, to look for early indications of Alzheimer’s disease, to seek new treatments for a number of diseases, and to predict the risk of a disease’s recurrence.

AI has a remarkable ability to integrate and analyze a wide range of data — electronic health records, imaging, genomic data, blood work and other tests — from vast numbers of patients. With the data in hand, researchers can use AI to look for patterns to help them identify effective treatment strategies.

As with most technologies, there are challenges we’ll need to address with AI. Protecting patient privacy, eliminating biases in the data, and making its benefits available to underserved populations are just some of them. But we’re facing those questions head on.

One factor that puts us in a strong position is that IU School of Medicine — and Indiana University — have made strategic investments in powerful computing technology. We have hired talented people well-versed in using it. And perhaps most importantly, our collaborative culture inspires people to seek help from their peers, work across disciplines, and be open to new ideas.

That’s the way it should be. After all, our goal is to help patients — and to make Indiana one of the nation’s healthiest states. AI is a powerful tool that can help us do that.

Jay L. Hess, MD, PhD, MHSA
Executive Vice President for University Clinical Affairs
Dean of the School of Medicine
Walter J. Daly Professor
Indiana University