Artificial Intelligence and the Pathologist: Future Frenemies?

The manuscript titled "AlphaGo, deep learning, and the future of the human microscopist" in this month's issue of the Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine1 describes the triumph of Google's (Mountain View, California) artificial intelligence (AI) program, AlphaGo, which beat the 18-time world champion of Go, an ancient Chinese board game far more complex than chess. The authors have hypothesized that the development of intuition and creativity combined with the raw computing of AI heralds an age where well-designed and well-executed AI algorithms can solve complex medical problems, including the interpretation of diagnostic images, thereby replacing the microscopist. Of note, in a prior work, the microscope was predicted to have a 75% chance of remaining in use for another 144 years.2 To support their hypothesis, the authors presented recent studies that compared the performance of nontraditional interpreters to those of experienced pathologists, in making accurate diagnoses (note: 1 author disclosed a significant financial interest in an AI company). One study examined the potential of using pigeons (yes, pigeons) for medical image studies,3 wherein the pigeons engaged in a matching game of completely benign and unambiguously malignant breast histology images.