The New Buzz: Artificial Intelligence
As healthcare professionals, we are witnessing a transformation in the fields of science and medicine, driven by the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This technology is reshaping the way we approach diagnosis, treatment planning, patient management, and more.
In this article, we will explore the current applications of AI in dental practice, the controversies surrounding its use, the methods of training AI models, and how we at DentalRx are looking to integrate AI into our services. This truly is an exciting time to be in!
AI’s Role in Dental Practice
Since it’s inception and recent recognition with the public release of ChatGPT, AI has been recognized as a powerful tool that could be utilized in healthcare. In dentistry, there are already several companies making headway in the space, and providing unique services for dental clinics.
Diagnosis, Radiology, and Treatment Planning
At the forefront of Dental AI, algorithms are being used to analyze dental radiographs for the identification of normal and abnormal structures, diagnosis of diseases, and prediction of treatment outcomes. These algorithms can process vast amounts of data, identifying patterns and anomalies that might be missed by the human eye.
One company that is making headways in this area is Pearl which is works by helping identify pathology and other conditions found on standard radiographs and CBCT.
Patient Management and Administrative Efficiency
AI also has carved out a space in patient management, enhancing personalized communication with services like Truelark. The automation of scheduling, billing, and record-keeping reduces the administrative burden, improving efficiency and patient satisfaction.
How AI Models Can Be Trained
Finetuning and Embedding
- Embeddings are often used to represent input data, transforming it into a form that’s easier for models to interpret. The way you can think about this is like giving someone a textbook and asking them to look up and relay the information to you.
- Fine-tuning deals with modifying an existing model to make it more suitable for a particular task. The way you can think of this is like traditional schooling where you teach them material over a span of time (but in way less time).
While embeddings can be part of a model that’s being fine-tuned, they serve different purposes. Embeddings transform data, whereas fine-tuning adapts a model.
Both embedding and fine-tuning have their advantages, but fine-tuning is more prone to errors since the model must produce the answer from its own “knowledge” instead of simply associating the question and looking up the answer.
For the sector of healthcare, embedding is the most logical way of training an AI model, especially for something like dentistry.
Controversy Over AI in Healthcare
Ethical Considerations and Regulatory Challenges
The integration of AI raises ethical considerations, such as concerns over patient privacy and data security. Compliance with healthcare regulations and standards adds complexity, requiring careful navigation of the legal landscape.
Professional Resistance and Specific Challenges in Dentistry
Fear of job displacement and lack of trust in AI systems can also hinder adoption. The integration of AI in dentistry must be safe and controlled, ensuring that humans retain the ability to direct treatment and make informed decisions.
Our Clinical Opinion
At DentalRx we maintain the position that AI is a very powerful tool that can be used to increase efficiency, but does not replace a healthcare professionals clinical decision making.
One of our main concerns with AI comes from the training methods and algorithms mentioned previously.
First and foremost, the quality of the training data plays a large role in the accuracy of the information being provided by the AI model.
Secondly, AI itself as an algorithm works on object/word association. AI association is a loose vector matching process that is prone to error. We see this in OpenAI’s ChatGPT model with “hallucinations” in up to 20% of responses.
When patient safety is at risk, there is no room for an error rate of up to 20%.
DentalRx as a Home for AI?
At DentalRx, the exploration in AI potential is ongoing. We have tested some preliminary models and the results are mixed. Sometimes the answers that AI provides are detailed and even insightful. But the variability and sometimes even incorrect answers that AI provides are not sufficient for the professional field of healthcare.
We are very excited about AI , but until it is 99% accurate we are not willing to bet our patient’s safety on it!
At this current point in time, it seems like the way to provide the most value with AI for medications and prescriptions is as a search assistant. In this way, an AI model could help direct users to the correct resource to help with their problem or questions.
Currently in DentalRx, we use AI enhanced search provided by Algolia. This allows for a better search experience within the web and mobile app so that you can find what you want, when you want it. If you are interested in trying out the DentalRx app you can download it for free!
