The Intersection of Medicine and AI | Michael Abramoff, Digital Diagnostic

Today we sit with Michael D. Abramoff, a neuroscientist and the founder of Digital Diagnostics, a company that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to provide autonomous medical diagnosis. In this interview, Michael shares his background and how he got into AI, as well as his vision for the future of medical diagnosis. He discusses how he uses AI to make medical diagnoses, the challenges he faces, and the potential for AI to revolutionize healthcare. He also talks about his involvement in other AI-related projects and his thoughts on the ethical implications of AI in healthcare. In addition, Michael delves into the safety concerns surrounding AI, particularly with language learning models (LLMs), and the importance of ensuring that AI is safe and free of bias.

 

Michael’s vision for AI in healthcare goes beyond mere assistance or augmentation of human decision-making. He believes that AI can make diagnoses and treatment decisions autonomously, without the need for human intervention. However, the promise of autonomous AI must be balanced with the potential pitfalls. As he pointed out, AI that learns from biased or fallible humans can produce models that are worse off. In healthcare, this could lead to harm to patients if doctors blindly follow AI recommendations.

 

Digital Diagnostics is a company that uses AI to diagnose diabetic retinopathy and increase healthcare access for underserved patients. The AI is trained to detect specific lesions using clinical knowledge and chunk by chunk learning to avoid bias. Healthcare providers can approve or disapprove the AI's recommendations, and the company aims to supplement rather than displace professionals.

 

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Founder Bio:

Michael D. Abramoff, MD, PhD, is a fellowship-trained retina specialist, computer scientist, and entrepreneur. He is Founder and Executive Chairman of Digital Diagnostics, the first company ever to receive FDA clearance for an autonomous AI diagnostic system. To transform the quality, accessibility, and affordability of global healthcare through the automation of medical diagnosis and treatment. In primary care, it can instantaneously diagnose diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema at the point of care. Dr. Abramoff developed an ethical foundation for autonomous AI that was used during the design and validation, and regulatory and payment pathways for autonomous AI. As the author of over 350 peer-reviewed publications in this field, he has been cited over 42,000 times, and is the inventor of 20 issued patents and many patent applications. Dr. Abramoff has mentored dozens of engineering graduate students, ophthalmology residents, and retina fellows. His passion is to use AI to improve the affordability, accessibility, and quality of care.

 

Time Stamps:

02:10 Michael's background as a neuroscientist and his interest in AI

05:37 Safety concerns surrounding AI, particularly with LLMs

07:08 The challenges of implementing AI in healthcare

09:07 The importance of AI supporting decision making rather than making decisions

11:02 The potential for AI to revolutionize healthcare

15:25 The importance of ensuring access to healthcare for all

18:40 The pain points behind creating Digital Diagnostics

21:49 Creating an ethical framework for regulation and reimbursement of AI

24:02 Potential for AI to outperform human experts in diagnosing medical conditions

26:00 Importance of clinical outcomes: acquiring data for AI and ensuring inclusivity

29:26 The impact of pigmentation on AI training data

31:37 Talent shortage in AI: transition from rule-based systems to machine learning

33:00 Understanding the fundamentals of AI despite increased efficiency

35:10 The need to prove the worth of AI in healthcare through clinical outcomes

37:24 How to get in contact with the Digital Diagnostics team

Resources:

Company website: https://www.digitaldiagnostics.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AItheRightWay

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-diagnostics