Making predictions is a messy business (just ask Geoffrey Hinton). So we’re always appreciative whenever key opinion leaders stick their necks out to offer thoughts on where radiology is headed and the major trends that will shape the specialty’s future.
Two of radiology’s top thought leaders on AI and imaging informatics – Curtis Langlotz, MD, PhD, and Paul Chang, MD – gaze into the crystal ball in two articles published this week in Radiology as part of the journal’s centennial celebration.
Langlotz offers 10 predictions on radiology AI’s future, briefly summarized below:
- Radiology will continue its leadership position when it comes to AI adoption in medicine, as evidenced by its dominance of FDA marketing authorizations
- Virtual assistants will help radiologists draft reports – and reduce burnout
- Radiology workstations will become cloud-based cockpits that seamlessly unify image display, reporting, and AI
- Large language models like ChatGPT will help patients better understand their radiology reports
- The FDA will reform its regulation of AI to be more flexible and speed AI authorizations (see our article in The Wire below)
- Large databases like the Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center (MIDRC) will spur data sharing and, in turn, more rapid AI development
Langlotz’s predictions are echoed by Chang’s accompanying article in Radiology in which he predicts the future of imaging informatics in the coming age. Like Langlotz, Chang sees the new array of AI-enabled tools as beneficial agents that will help radiologists manage growing workloads through dashboards, enhanced radiology reports, and workflow automation.
The Takeaway
This week’s articles are required reading for anyone following the meteoric growth of AI in radiology. Far from Hinton’s dystopian view of a world without radiologists, Langlotz and Chang predict a future in which AI and IT technologies assist radiologists to do their jobs better and with less stress. We know which vision we prefer.
