AI Predicts Autism Based on Infant Brain Scans

Brain scans, analyzed using a type of artificial intelligence, can reveal whether 6-month-old babies are likely to develop autism, a new study shows. The study examined 59 infants who were at high risk of developing autism; that is, each had an older sibling with autism. The artificial intelligence predicted with 100 percent accuracy that 48 infants would not develop autism. In addition, of the 11 infants who did develop the disorder by the time they were 2 years old, the system correctly predicted nine of the cases. "It was extremely accurate," Robert Emerson, the lead author on the study and a former cognitive neuroscience postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina (UNC), told Live Science.