Google's new deep learning system can give a boost to radiologists

This article is part of our reviews of AI research papers, a series of posts that explore the latest findings in artificial intelligence. Deep learning can detect abnormal chest x-rays with accuracy that matches that of professional radiologists, according to a new paper by a team of AI researchers at Google published in the peer-reviewed science journal Nature. The deep learning system can help radiologists prioritize chest x-rays, and it can also serve as a first response tool in emergency settings where experienced radiologists are not available. The findings show that, while deep learning is not close to replacing radiologists, it can help boost their productivity at a time that the world is facing a severe shortage of medical experts. The paper also shows how far the AI research community has come to build processes that can reduce the risks of deep learning models and create work that can be further built on in the future.