Finding out if someone has skin cancer is a tough job. Right now, even computers that can think and learn, called AI, can’t do as well as doctors.
But a team of scientists led by Harald Kittler from MedUni Vienna has figured out a way to make the AI better. They did this by making the AI think more like a doctor.
This led to a 12% better success rate in spotting skin cancer. This research was shared in Nature Medicine.
How Did They Do It?
The scientists used a method called “reinforcement learning” to teach the AI. They added something called “reward tables” to the AI. These are a bit like a score sheet.
When the AI made a good decision, like a doctor would, it got points. When it made a decision that a doctor wouldn’t, it lost points.
This meant the AI didn’t just have to get the answer right or wrong. It had to think about what the answer meant for the person.
What Did They Learn?
By doing this, the AI started to think more like a doctor. It didn’t just look at a picture, it thought about what it would mean if it made a mistake.
Harald Kittler, who led the study, said that this helped the AI get better at telling the difference between harmless spots and harmful ones.
The results were impressive. For one type of skin cancer, called melanoma, the AI went from being right 61.4% of the time to 79.5% of the time.
For another type, called basal cell carcinoma, it went from 79.4% to 87.1% accuracy.
In total, the AI helped the doctors get the diagnosis right 12% more often. It also helped them make better decisions about what to do next.
Before the AI, the doctors were making the best decision about treatment 57.4% of the time. After the AI, this went up to 65.3%.
Why Does This Matter?
What’s special about this is that the AI wasn’t just guessing. It was thinking about the result of its decision. This made its suggestions more careful and human-like.
Kittler said this helped the doctors make decisions that were better for each patient. Even though they tested this method on skin cancer, Kittler thinks it could be used for other medical decisions too.
In short, by making the AI think more like a doctor, these scientists have found a new way to spot skin cancer more accurately. This could help save more lives in the future.
If you care about skin health, please read studies about eating fish linked to higher risk of skin cancer, and Vitamin B3 could help prevent skin cancers.
For more information about skin health, please see recent studies about how to prevent skin cancer effectively, and results showing red onion skin could help reduce high blood pressure.
The study was published in Nature Medicine.
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