The Benefits of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine

Precious Ugwuzor

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning are gaining increased popularity across the globe. Due to a symbiotic relationship between humans and this burgeoning technology, productivity across the globe has expanded to new arenas.

 I am a firm believer that AI’s positive benefits outweigh its potential harmful applications. From automatic speech recognition and machine translation, to support for people with disabilities, to developing innovative vaccines and diagnoses, AI is a tool that can help my home country of Nigeria and the world achieve a better tomorrow.

One such industry that has directly benefited from AI integration is health and medicine.   Discussions on the ethical use of AI, among numerous others, were a key agenda item at this year’s 2023 Rise Residential Summit, a two and a half week residential summit offered bye Rise  to each cohort of WinnersRise program is a global initiative from Schmidt Futures and Rhodes Trust that finds promising young people and provides opportunity as they work to serve others. 

The 2023 Rise Residential Summit brought together the latest cohort of Rise Global Winners to advance each Winner’s commitment to service and learning through interactive presentations, networking, and cultural immersion in the United Kingdom.

AI has already proven itself to be a valuable resource for healthcare providers throughout Nigeria, with technology for cost-effective and highly efficient diagnostic and treatment processes, high-powered  X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, and safer surgeries. I’m inspired by the current integration of AI in healthcare, and want to push it to new heights. 

I’ve been an advocate for cervical cancer awareness for many years and have sought out ways to educate young Nigerian girls on cervical cancer. Using AI, we can alleviate the burden on healthcare professionals with cervical cancer patients. Solutions such as Pap smear tests and VIA/VILI (Visual inspection with acetic acid and visual inspection with Lugol’s iodine) are not only time-consuming but also monotonous, especially when dealing with a high volume of patient samples.

Worldwide, 604,127 people are living with cervical cancer. 

In Nigeria, it is the second most common cancer among women. Every year, about 12,075 women are diagnosed and about 7,968 die from the disease. The American Cancer Society predicts that in 2023, there will be 13,960 new cervical cancer cases and 4,310 deaths among women as a result of cervical cancer.

 This emphasises the severity of this issue and reinforces the need for a solution. The World Health Organization states that cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the world and can be cured if diagnosed at an early stage and treated promptly. AI provides a quick, efficient, accessible, and affordable solution to ameliorate the current cervical cancer screening methods. 

To further research in this area, I am actively exploring ways AI can be used in early detection for diseases like cervical cancer. Using images from a public dataset called SiPaKMed, I am researching the accuracy of handcrafted feature extraction techniques in comparison to Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) feature extraction techniques for the classification of cervical cancer Pap smear images. 

We have a tremendous opportunity to change treatment outcomes and patient lives who are afflicted with cervical cancer. However, we must ask ourselves what moral and ethical boundaries need to be respected as we continue to integrate artificial intelligence into healthcare; issues of patient security, data protection, and human-centered care will remain in question as technology advances. Where will  we draw the line between convenience and connection? 

Artificial intelligence is a tool and it’s up to us to decide how we will use it to shape our future.