Can AI help detect a condition that disproportionately affects black people?

AI might be a controversial topic, especially in Hollywood or amongst artists. Many who fight AI express concerns about its potential to do harm quite than good, corresponding to the power to detect brain health.

In June National Institute on Aging It has been reported that scientists working with AI computer programs could in the future predict who’s liable to developing Alzheimer’s disease based on medical records. According to the NIA-funded study, this may be possible by training some self-learning programs — also generally known as machine learning algorithms — to detect risk in electronic health records. The results could eventually be used to discover a person’s hidden risk source.

This is just not the one way this technology might be used. The Washington Post reports that work is underway on a wristband-like device that will scan brain activity, very like an EKG examines heart waves or a blood pressure monitor.

“We want to find ways to detect dementia as early as possible,” said Jennie Larkin, deputy director of the Division of Neuroscience on the National Institute on Aging. “AI is primarily about helping us understand and manage big data, which is too large or complex to analyze in traditional ways. Its potential is to be an incredible assistant in helping us understand rich medical data and identify opportunities that we would never be able to do without help.”

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While this technology continues to be at the least a decade away from being fully operational, it has the potential to affect the health of many individuals.

According to Mayo ClinicDementia is a broad term used to explain a number of symptoms that affect memory, considering, and social skills. Although it is just not a single disease, dementia is most frequently attributable to Alzheimer’s disease.

The disease affects roughly 6.9 million Americans aged 65 and over.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that number is predicted to double by 2060. Black seniors also suffer from the disease at disproportionately high rates. According to Association for People with Alzheimer’s Disease23.1% of blacks aged 70 and older have the disease, and are twice as prone to develop it as white Americans. The reasons for the disproportionate rates are difficult to pinpoint, but systemic barriers to accessing adequate health, lifestyle, and socioeconomic status could also be aspects.

Given that there continues to be no cure for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and only a few ways to alleviate symptoms beyond drug therapy, some experts caution in regards to the promise of this recent and emerging technology.

“Generally speaking, AI in this case is a good thing. But it comes with a big ‘but,’” Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at NYU Langone Health, told the Washington Post.