Radiologist’s Role in Artificial Intelligence Era

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) in radiology is recently a rapidly growing subject. Much literature about AI in radiology has been launched within 5 years, as well as commercial AI companies. This phenomenon makes some old radiologists feel worried about losing their jobs, and junior doctors hesitate to choose radiology as a specialty. Currently, implementations of proprietary AIs in clinical practice are limited, with a default setting for a convenient human overwrite. The AIs in clinical imaging largely remain either investigational as part of clinical/pre-clinical trials or being developed for commercialized purposes. Radiologists have an important role in all AI processes from the beginning to the end and vital in training the machine, as well as to validate its added benefit for outcome prediction/prognostication. This article will discuss the importance for radiologists to develop, implement, and monitor AI in clinical imaging, together with some ethical considerations. We would like to encourage radiologists to use AI as an adjunct tool, to save time and have better performance.