More People Are Going Blind. AI Can Help Fight It

Since 2017, ophthalmology has been the busiest of all the medical specialties in the UK's National Health Service in terms of clinical appointments. Nearly 10 percent of all NHS outpatient appointments are related to eye problems. That's nearly 10 million appointments per year, and that number has risen by more than a third in the past five years. Between the ages of 18 and 65, the main cause of blindness is diabetic eye disease. But the population is getting older, and we're also seeing an increasing prevalence of diseases like age-related macular degeneration (AMD).