Artificial intelligence can attract plenty of critics as we consider how to address the ethics of it, but some researchers in the Valley are hoping to advance the work of AI for social good.
"It's very important to understand in what ways that AI can improve human wellbeing," said Hasti Seifi a research professor at Arizona State University.
She's part of a massive project at ASU, aimed at helping people who are blind or low vision. It's a collaboration among ASU, University of Rochester, UC Santa Cruz, Columbia University and Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Pooyan Fazli is the principal investigator on the project.
"Nearly like, four million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with a sort of like visual impairment. And these people like, face challenges in our modern life," said Fazli.
In our modern world, so much critical information is communicated through video.
"And this inaccessible information can result in like, social exclusion or become even life-threatening for blind individuals. If they need access to this information in videos to make decisions related to health or safety," said Fazli.
The five-year project just launched this summer. It's funded by the National Institutes of Health.
"The goal of the project is we want blind users accessing information in any online video, and our basically, long-term goal is to develop AI-based system capable of understanding the content of online videos," said Fazli.
Artificial intelligence is also advancing the field of mammography. A recent study found that AI-supported mammogram reading detects 20% more breast cancer than doctors with years of experience and training. It also cuts the mammogram reading workload in half.
Dr. Nadar Sanai is the director of the Ivy Brain Tumor Center in Phoenix. He oversees all brain tumor research at the Barrow Neurological Institute.
"The impact of artificial intelligence in biology and science in general has really been very thorough and felt throughout every dimension of it," said Dr. Sanai.
He says in the field of neurology, there is an unmet need that AI can fill in cancer biology.
"So, in drug development for cancer, it's always about screening through thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of potential drugs and potential targets, to try to find the ones that will help patients the most. And this can be a really difficult and very time-consuming process, and one that requires a lot of computational power. AI clearly has been shaking the field up in terms of drug discovery," said Dr. Sanai.
At the Ivy Brain Tumor Center, they are now partnering with AI-driven firms.
"So, we find it fascinating. It's an incredible shot in the arm for the field. I think that the biotech and pharma industries have embraced it fully," said Dr. Sanai.
It is a given that AI will touch every industry. It is yet to be seen all the ways that we can use the power of it for social good.
"I think AI brings a lot of possibilities, new possibilities for interaction or accessing information," said Seifi.
Seifi and Fazli's project for the NIH is funded through 2028, but they are hoping to be able to continue their work after that.
