Opening Lecture: Big Data in Medicine

No matter what field of medicine you are working in, big data and artificial intelligence (A.I.) will change the work you do. Big data is more than just size; it is also the speed at which data is collected and the complexity of the data stored. The data might hold individualized treatment opportunities, more accurate patient-evaluation, and better prognosis. A.I. includes a broad range of technologies that resemble or simulate human intelligence. These technologies have the potential to understand and learn from provided data. Medicine is ideal for applying A.I. because of the large amounts of data produced. With A.I., an infinite amount of data can be transformed into useful information. A.I. can recognize relevant patterns and combine multiple datasets. A.I. is already being applied in clinical settings such as radiology and pathology; it is promising in detecting metastatic lung lesions and skin cancer. In many areas of pediatrics, projects are being started in A.I. Sepsis prediction, image analysis in retinopathy of prematurity and risk assessment for asthma exacerbation are some of the many examples.

This lecture will evaluate the current excitement about big data and A.I., provide examples from current A.I. projects, and will prepare you for the future of medicine.