Human intelligence, that much vaunted, but still imperfectly understood phenomenon is the starting point for artificial intelligence. AI is the simulation of human intelligence in machines. What does intelligence in a machine look like? Experts now speak of strong and weak AI. But all AI is dependent on data and, like other high quality raw materials, good data is not guaranteed. I spoke with Dr. Romani, who is using AI to provide a sustainable weight loss programme. He and others like him are both hopeful and cautious about the huge advantages and the many challenges associated with using AI to improve healthcare.
Modern machines have an advantage over humans in their ability to process vast amounts of data at high speed. AI harnesses this ability and in so doing, is able to perform what to many may seem like modern miracles. In healthcare for example, algorithms are now capable of detecting various diseases, in some cases more accurately than doctors. AI can now diagnose lung and breast cancer better than humans with an error rate of just 3%. It also has implications for medical trials involving new drugs or treatments.
Bias is a problem in AI
With the help of AI, the trialing process can be done much more quickly and efficiently. This means that new drugs could reach the market in a matter of weeks or months as opposed to years or even decades. But AI is based on algorithms, complex mathematical instructions that are trained on large data sets. It is now becoming clear that both the creators of the algorithms and the data itself can be biased. Bobby Bahov, founder of AI Lab One at the Hague Tech, explains that ‘Data is everything when it comes to AI.’
Bearing in mind the innate human tendencies toward bias which in turn are transferred to the artificially intelligent machines they programme, it is worth considering that the more simple, ‘weak’ forms of AI may well be less susceptible to extreme forms of bias. These more simple, single-task orientated algorithms may be employed to streamline a myriad of small but vital tasks. For example, all the daily tasks necessary for the efficient running of a hospital. So too can they be used to assist with global health issues like weight.
Simple algorithms can be used to measure daily fluctuations in our weight.
The problem of weight gain is increasingly common. For decades health care professionals and the business sector have come up a with variety of solutions that promise success at losing those extra pounds. I spoke with GP and sports science expert, Dr. Renato Romani, who has been working for a number of years now on addressing this problem using AI. His initiative has developed a simple algorithm that allows people to measure their weight each day using a specially designed weight monitor or scale.
The weight monitor contains no numbers but instead shows the weight watcher a trend in either weight loss or weight gain. This trend is based on numerous readings each day taken by an app, which communicates with the scale. It takes into account the fact that your body weight fluctuates, in the order of kilograms, each day. By providing a more realistic picture of your weight range, Dr. Romani has found that patients are motivated to continue making small adjustments to eating and exercising patterns. Overall, they have found a 40% improvement in long term weight loss using this method.
‘Weight loss is a journey’ – Dr. Romani
As Dr. Romani points out, ‘weight loss is a journey’. After a 5% change in weight, the body takes time to adjust to this new state. Romani admits that further research, with a wider number of patients, is still needed to determine how long such an adaptation period is, on average. The scale also provides generic advice given the type of trends in your weight loss or gain that it notices. For example, ‘try eating more salads’ or ‘increase your water intake’. However Dr. Romani is adamant that this device is designed to be used with a healthcare professional. He still believes firmly in the importance of human contact. He sees his invention providing dietitians, doctors or gyms with the necessary scientific information to support their patients/ clients to achieve ‘sustainable and efficient weight loss’.
In one of their first pilot schemes at the ASPR offices in Brazil, 55% of the employees of the company with whom they worked, needed to lose weight. The doctor tells me how many went from skepticism of the scale to a more positive approach when they saw it had no numbers on it. And then, to a growing awareness of weight as they discussed their progress with one another on coffee breaks etc. Finally, he received thanks from a near-by fitness center for sending 10 employees to their gym. He explained that neither he nor the company involved had done any such thing, rather, those involved had taken it upon themselves to sign up for fitness classes.
‘We are not talking about replacing doctors any time soon’ – Bobby Bahov
Speaking with a variety of medical practitioners at the Hague Tech last week, it became clear that many who are positive about AI see it as a tool that will free-up their time so that they can focus on more complex problems. ‘We are not talking about replacing doctors any time soon’ says Bobby Bahov. The focus is rather on speeding up simple tasks so that waiting time can be reduced.’ For example, 25% of people don’t have visible veins, this can cause difficulties when taking blood. AI can be trained to solve this problem and save doctors and nurses time to spend on other tasks.
The financial aspect of all of this is also very real. As one of the participants pointed out, ‘waste is not profit’. In healthcare, particularly hospitals and public health, the best way we could improve the system would be to avoid waste. Waste can be reduced with the help of AI to streamline the system rather than reinvent the wheel. Insurance companies in the Netherlands are interested in AI, particularly when it comes to health care. Indeed, much basic healthcare in the Netherlands, is now largely a question of protocol which general practitioners are trained to follow. Such a system lends itself to the introduction of AI.
AI: Less is more
A focus on simplicity and human connection characterizes such initiatives. This is what Romani and others in the health care industry believe will revolutionise health care in the foreseeable future. Although investors, developers and the media may focus on the more advanced, sometimes dystopian aspects of deep learning and strong AI, this is not the stuff of which reality is currently made. It is also clear, that a slower, less high level approach might well provide society with the time needed to consider the many complex ethical questions that AI raises and with which even human intelligence is still struggling!