NHS and deep learning: healthcare needs human machine collaboration

Björn Brinne added: "The report is correct that there are a number of urgent challenges that need to be addressed. Many deep learning projects to date have been focused on small pockets of research, which presents issues in relation to repeatability, auditability and scalability which are needed to make a global impact. Also, lack of skills, cost and complexity remain as barriers. "For the NHS, this is a major challenge as budgets and talent are already limited. "There's also the data issue – deploying deep learning models in the health sector requires retraining them when new data comes in, a complex and often costly task. "Additionally, to begin with, the quantity of data available will be limited and the quality of it inconsistent, which could lead to inaccuracies. There are also obvious challenges in the sensitivity of the data that is needed and requirements for consent." "In order to overcome these challenges, deep learning needs to move away from being used as a research tool, and instead become operationalised to make outputs more robust and usable. This will make deep learning accessible for a wider group of users in the medical industry, so that data pools become greater and more varied over time, improving model performance and, by extension, the quality and effectiveness of patient care."