The Google LLC logo is visible within the Google Store Chelsea in Latest York,
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
Google on Tuesday announced recent health initiatives and partnerships at its annual event called “The Check Up.” The Google Health team shared the newest information on search features, tools for constructing health apps, and the newest AI-powered health research.
On the event, the corporate discussed recent partnerships to help develop AI-assisted ultrasound, cancer treatment and tuberculosis screening, but the newest iteration of its large medical model called Med-PaLM was of particular interest.
Google first introduced Med-PaLM late last yr. It goals to provide high-quality answers to medical questions. Med-PaLM was the primary AI system to successfully omit 60% on multiple-choice questions, similar to those utilized in US medical licensing exams.
The corporate said the second iteration of the technology, Med-PaLM 2, was consistently performed at an “expert” level for exam questions. Med-PaLM 2 achieved an accuracy of over 85%, achieving a rating that is eighteen% higher than previous results.
Dr. Alan Karthikesalingam, head of research at Google Health, said the corporate can be testing Med-PaLM responses against responses from real doctors and clinicians. He said Med-PaLM’s responses are evaluated for factual accuracy, bias and potential harm.
Karthikesalingam showed controlled examples – the demo wasn’t live – how Med-PaLM 2 can answer questions like “what are the primary signs of pneumonia?” and “can urinary incontinence be cured?” In some cases, Med-PaLM 2 responses were comparable to, and much more detailed than, clinician responses. But in other cases, the Med-PaLM 2 responses weren’t as accurate.
“From this type of work, you’ll be able to see that we’re still learning,” Karthikesalingam said on the event.
Given the sensitive nature of medical information, Karthikesalingam said it may be a while before this technology is on the fingertips of the common consumer. He said it was necessary to innovate responsibly in a controlled environment.
Google will proceed to work with researchers and experts at Med-PaLM, and Karthikesalingam said the corporate would supply more updates on this in the longer term.
“The potential here is big,” he said, “but it surely’s necessary that real-world applications are researched in a responsible and ethical way.”