Machine Learning for Febrile Infants – A New Paradigm?

Perhaps many people are like me in that hearing the word "machine learning" for the first time brings forth images of Skynet from The Terminator movies or Haley Joel Osment's character from the Steven Spielberg's film A.I. Artificial Intelligence. However, machine learning has now become a regular part of our vernacular when it comes to predictive modeling in many conditions. Ramgopal et al use machine learning methods to derive and validate a new prediction model for risk stratification of febrile infants 60 days of age. Using various machine learning approaches, the authors developed a prediction model with high sensitivity and specificity compared with recent prediction models for febrile infants. So, are machine learning models the new paradigm for risk stratification of febrile infants? The results are intriguing, particularly the high specificity of the model, but further work must be done, as explained nicely by Chamberlain et al in an accompanying commentary (10.1542/peds.2020-012203).