Opening the ‘black box,’ Google DeepMind AI system diagnoses eye diseases and shows its work

In eye care, artificial intelligence systems have shown they can match the accuracy of doctors in diagnosing specific diseases. But a new system designed by Google DeepMind and British doctors goes a crucial step further: It can show users how it reached its conclusions.

A study published Monday in Nature Medicine reports that the DeepMind system can identify dozens of diseases and point out the portions of optical coherence tomography scans that it relies upon to make its diagnoses. That’s a crucial factor in validating the safety and efficacy of AI technologies being developed for use in diagnosing or recommending treatments for a broad range of diseases, from cancer to neurological and vision problems.

The paper states that the system made the right referral recommendation in more than 94 percent of cases based on a review of historic patient scans at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London and performed as good as, or better