Using Machine Learning to Detect Autism - Which-50

California based company Cognoa is using machine learning to detect cognitive disorders in children up to 13 months earlier than traditional diagnosis methods. The company's VP of data science, Halim Abbas, told Which-50 a machine learning approach is ideal for detecting developmental delays. "Machine learning algorithms can ingest very large numbers of historical patient records, and use them to capture incredibly subtle patterns that might indicate the presence of cognitive disorders." "Highly resilient to noise and subjectivity" the process ultimately produces models that can approximate the understanding of what constitutes autism from the many different doctors who contributed to the dataset, Abbas said. "This allows Machine Learning screeners to succeed when applied at complex assessments like autism spectrum disorder, which can present a wide and highly variant set of behavioural phenotypes." The Cognoa method is much more accessible, according to Abbas.