A service with AI to assist doctors in image diagnosis

On October 24, a newspaper Nikkei reported that the "Healthcare AI Platform Collaborative Innovation Partnership (HAIP*)" will launch a service that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to assist doctors in image diagnosis.

Use of AI into medical care is rapidly spreading in Japan. However, we have to be careful how to implement it. We have heard many cases are less efficient through the public process. This is because the use of AI under the kept conventional methods/processes in most of cases.

This is not related with not only AI but with digital technology in general. The application that makes paperless in custom declaration is an example of such a case. When you arrive at the airport from overseas, you need to walk for a long distance. Along the way, you need to tell in several times what you have already registered through your mobile phone in advance. The new method of custom declaration is more time-consuming than the one on paper. Three people, three times as many as before, involve with one person, make the process even less efficient.

We cannot avoid the public process for the introduction of medical products with digital technology. So that, it is important to review such processes. Then, the true benefits of IT can be utilized. At times, lobbying to change laws may also be necessary.

*HAIP includes 14 companies and organizations such as Hitachi, Microsoft Japan, and BIPROGY.