A healthcare start-up is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to test the way a person speaks in order to detect Alzheimer’s disease. The algorithm interprets pauses and differences in pronunciations as markers of the disease. The developers used a dataset that contains only speech samples from native English speakers. What type of bias is present in this example?
A healthcare start-up is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to test the way a person speaks in order to detect Alzheimer’s disease. The algorithm interprets pauses and differences in pronunciations as markers of the disease. The developers used a dataset that contains only speech samples from native English speakers. What type of bias is present in this example?
The type of bias present in this example is Algorithmic bias.
Explanation
Alzheimer’s Disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease, which slowly and gradually worsens memory and other important mental functions. Positron emission tomography (PET) scans, which measure the levels of specific molecules, like glucose, in the brain, have been investigated as one tool to help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease before the symptoms become severe. Researchers developed a new AI algorithm that can detect signs of cognitive impairment in brain MRI scans, genetics, and clinical data. This information can be used to forecast if certain discoveries will lead to Alzheimer’s disease several years before symptoms appear.
The type of bias present in this example is Algorithmic bias.
Explanation
Alzheimer’s Disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease, which slowly and gradually worsens memory and other important mental functions. Positron emission tomography (PET) scans, which measure the levels of specific molecules, like glucose, in the brain, have been investigated as one tool to help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease before the symptoms become severe. Researchers developed a new AI algorithm that can detect signs of cognitive impairment in brain MRI scans, genetics, and clinical data. This information can be used to forecast if certain discoveries will lead to Alzheimer’s disease several years before symptoms appear.
