A new AI system that was trained to mimic human gaze could soon be used to detect cancer. "Being able to focus our attention is an important part of the human visual system, which allows humans to select and interpret the most relevant information in a particular scene. Scientists all over the world have been using computer software to try and recreate this ability to pick out the most salient parts of an image, but with mixed success up until now. In the study, the team used a deep learning computer algorithm known as a convolutional neural network, which is designed to mimic the interconnected web of neurons in the human brain and is modelled specifically on the visual cortex. This type of algorithm is ideal for taking images as an input and being able to assign importance to various objects or aspects within the image itself. According to the team, they utilised a huge database of images in which each image had already been assessed, or viewed, by humans and assigned so-called'areas of interest' using eye-tracking software. These images were then fed into the algorithm and by using deep learning the system slowly began to learn from the images to a point where it could then accurately predict which parts of the image were most salient. Researchers said their system was tested against seven advanced visual saliency systems already in use, and was shown to be'superior on all metrics'. 'Being able to successfully predict where people look in natural images could unlock a wide range of applications from automatic target detection to robotics, image processing and medical diagnostics,' said Dr Hantao Liu, co-author of the study, from Cardiff University's School of Computer Science and Informatics."