Artificial intelligence to diagnose eye diseases

In the latest issue of the biology journal Cell, they describe a way of using artificial intelligence and machine learning to recognise macular degeneration and diabetic macular oedema, the two most common causes of irreversible blindness. They say this new technology could be used anywhere in the world and could prove especially important in rural areas, and places like China, India, and Africa. Traditional computer programs work by defining actions to take given certain circumstances - such as typing in some numbers and doing calculations. Type in something it isn't programmed to react to - like a word instead of a number - and it won't know what to do. AI is a part of computer science where machines are designed to have some intelligent behaviour.