Prof Philip Poortmans
President of the European CanCer Organisation (ECCO)
It’s time for the cancer community to come together. To come together in how it responds to the challenge of bringing the benefits of artificial intelligence to fruition in cancer care.
Professor Stephen Hawking was a thinker of vision respected across the world and across generations. Respected for his insights to share on all manner of topics.
Therefore, we should take note on those matters upon which he urged us all to reflect. On Artificial Intelligence he cautioned us that, “when considering the future of computer technology, computers will overtake humans with AI within the next 100 years. When that happens, we need to make sure the computers have goals aligned with ours.”
Artificial intelligence in cancer care is now well in fact past the realm of science fiction. It is here already. For instance some examples include:
- The use of AI to evaluate whether an X-ray is normal, allowing radiologists to focus their time more effectively on the analysis of abnormal images;
- Machine learning techniques to improve the identification of DNA mutations within cancers and even to forecast future genetic changes;
- A surge of start-up companies focused on using AI and machine learning to accelerate new drug discovery and optimal use of technology in surgery and radiation oncology.
AL into cancer
However, as might be imagined, and with Professor Hawking’s message much in mind, the introduction of artificial intelligence into cancer care is not without controversy nor unresolved issues.
For example, a report by STAT claimed so called ‘supercomputers’ have been making invalid conclusions about cancer treatment, raising concerns about whether healthcare professionals will be able to detect and prevent such new forms of potential error in treatment decisions. Equally, there is a need to manage effectively the shift in healthcare professional roles that must surely follow the introduction of artificial intelligence in the conduct of tasks currently conducted by humans.
As Co-Chair of the ECCO 2019 European Cancer Summit, I am convinced that the cancer community needs to come together in this case urgently to focus on this topic.
We must further shape our collective response to this irresistible force for change. And in so doing, shape the future well. We need to maximise the benefits of AI for cancer care, while simultaneously taking action to prevent unintended harmful impacts.
That is to say, to steal some phrasing from that Oxford mathematician whom I mentioned, we need to better align the goals of computers with those of the cancer community.