Artificial intelligence & informatics
Computing hard- and software has become a fully integrated part of our lives. The field of medicine, including several aspects of oral & maxillofacial surgery, is no exception to these developments.
Data & informatics and their use in medical applications are a double-edged sword. Whilst there is fantastic potential to exploit the growing power of computing hard- and software for beneficial activities, there is also enormous potential for abuse of data, violations of privacy, and even for causing harm with the best of intentions. The potential effects of these contrasting and entirely opposite roles of data are particularly acute and pronounced in the field of medicine, for a number of reasons. These include technical and theoretical aspects, as well as societal and personal considerations. It is for these reasons that we include a brief chapter about artificial intelligence & informatics on the website.
Topics of particular interest include
- numerous aspects of data safety, data ownership, data privacy;
- levels of computer literacy and improved understanding of ‘artificial intelligence’;
- accessibility of digital media;
- pattern recognition, especially in diagnosis and genetic investigations;
- image reconstruction and 3D representations;
- considering the suitability of different statistical or modelling approaches for evaluation.
Two areas specific to oral & maxillofacial surgery are
- transoral robotic surgery, TORS;
- facial recognition (beyond generally problematic aspects of surveillance).
The following page discusses all these issues in slightly more detail.