4. The riddle of confidence levels and the levels of significance in the era of artificial intelligence

Whether it is the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of individual patients or the research results derived from group studies, uncertainties are an integral part of the decision-making process because of the omnipresence of inter- and intra-individual variations. Whereas artificial intelligence methods are poised to steeply reduce the uncertainties at the individual level, they cannot completely eliminate the role of chance. This is especially so with group-based medical research where uncertainties may still confound the decision processes even with the advent of artificial intelligence. Probabilities quantify the uncertainties. Confidence level and the level of significance measure the probability in different contexts in statistical inference and remain the essential features of group-based research. Some researchers mix up these two levels. This article explains the difference between these two levels and offers a new perspective in the era of artificial intelligence.