How artificial intelligence can diagnose some genetic disorders better than doctors

Deseret News (Jan. 18) -- New artificial intelligence technology can identify genetic disorders using just a photo of a patient's face. A new study published this month in the peer-reviewed medical journal Nature Medicine found that an algorithm was better than clinicians at accurately identifying genetic syndromes with recognizable facial features. “It’s using existing AI technologies on a problem they haven’t been used for before,” says U. of I. computer science professor David Forsyth, whose primary research area is computer vision. Face classifier programs have been used in the past to help Facebook users know whom to tag in a photo, for example, but this is the first time the technology has been applied in the medical field, Forsyth said.