One of AI's greatest benefits is the ability to search through large amounts of data and provide insights for decision-making across various lines of insurance ranging from P&C to workers' compensation, specialty lines, life and health.
"I would say when we're talking about cancer in particular, it's good to emphasize that cancer is after all a genetic disease or really, it's rather hundreds of different genetic diseases. And as we start identifying cancer more by its genetic patterns, rather than that it's just an abnormal appearance of cells that are growing irregularly, you start looking at these genetic patterns and the metabolites of the cancers themselves that drive the cancer formation and the growth of the cancer, and can therefore identify targets for treatment that are specific for those alterations," said Dr. Heltemes. "It's really too much for us to sort through well, and that's where the AI comes in. It really benefits from the use of AI to better understand and organize these many facets of the genetic patterns and other biomarkers that are associated with each cancer. So that's where AI starts."
AI, in essence, is able to extract information from a variety of sources such as x-rays, tests, physician's notes and other records and compile the data in ways that were previously unavailable.
Dr. Meagher shared some other examples of how AI is affecting the diagnostic process. "We can look at the back of the eye at the retina, which is previously done by using an ophthalmoscope. You've probably had that examination done, but now retinal images are able to do an awful lot more. They can actually predict the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease or developing diabetes. So once again, not something that the human eye could ever have managed, but the AI can. I think that's potentially huge in terms of early detection, early diagnosis, along the lines of anything you can do earlier and detect earlier, you have a reasonably good chance of having an impact on this outcome."
The podcast also covers concerns about over-diagnosis or even misdiagnosis of illnesses, the types of cancers where AI is having an immediate impact, as well as how more diagnostic information is affecting life insurance underwriting.
Dr. Meagher says he anticipates seeing some efficiencies in how healthcare is delivered, initially, and believes that diagnostics will be the next area to see improvements.
Listen to the full podcast here,
