Researchers have taken photographs of children’s retinas and screened them using a deep learning AI algorithm to diagnose autism with 100% accuracy. The findings support using AI as an objective screening tool for early diagnosis, especially when access to a specialist child psychiatrist is limited.

AI-screened eye pics diagnose childhood autism with 100% accuracy::undefined

  • BreadstickNinja@lemmy.worldEnglish
    81·
    11 months ago

    Yeah, exactly. They’re reporting findings. Saying that it worked in 100% of the cases they tested is not making a claim that it will work in 100% of all cases ever. But if they had 30 images and it classified all 30 images correctly, then that’s 100%.

    The article headline is what’s misleading. First, it’s poorly written - “AI-screened eye PICS DIAGNOSE childhood autism.” The pics do not diagnose the autism, so the subject of the verb is wrong. But even if it were rephrased, stating that the AI system diagnoses autism itself is a stretch. The AI system correctly identified individuals previously diagnosed with autism based on eye pictures.

    This is an interesting but limited finding that suggests AI systems may be capable of serving as one diagnostic tool for autism, based on one experiment in which they performed well. Anything more than that is overstating the findings of the study.