The past decade has brought about a multitude of advancements in computers and software development including IBM’s unveiling of Watson. Watson, in the words of IBM, is a “technology platform that uses natural language processing and machine learning to reveal insights from large amounts of unstructured data.” In simple terms, it’s a giant search engine that learns from trial and error, using key terms that are relevant to the search criteria in order to deliver the best suitable answer. This enables Watson to swiftly search through vast amounts of unstructured data which, according to IBM, is eighty percent of all data. This is possible because of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
There is currently a limited number of AI systems in the medical industry, and the main AI is IBM’s Watson. Currently, Watson’s primary use is to search for the best treatment options for patients. The possibilities of what AI can be used for in the medical industry are endless.
Although the uses for AI are diverse, the primary focus is on how it can enter the medical field to assist medical professionals. According to an article published by livescience, machine learning software used by medical professionals has a 92 percent accuracy rate at identifying cancerous nodes. Medical professionals, on the other hand, have a 96 percent success rate of identifying cancerous nodes. However, when medical professionals are assisted by machine learning software, the success rate for identifying cancerous nodes increases to an outstanding 99.5 percent.
