Transforming Vitiligo Diagnosis and Treatment Through Artificial Intelligence: A Review

Vitiligo is a complex autoimmune disease of the skin characterised by the loss of melanocytes, resulting in depigmented patches on the skin. Despite advances in clinical diagnosis and treatment, challenges such as delayed diagnosis and limited therapeutic efficacy remain. Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL), has become a transformative tool in medical science, offering new approaches for early diagnosis, treatment optimization, and drug repurposing. This review examines the current status and recent advances in AI-based methods for vitiligo, highlighting deep neural network diagnostic tools, transformer-based image classifiers, and predictive models that surpass the accuracy of dermatologists. Moreover, AI-driven analyses of gene expression, protein interactions, and pharmacological networks have facilitated drug repurposing and accelerated therapeutic discovery. However, several challenges hinder the full clinical integration of AI. These include the need for large, diverse, high-quality datasets; limited representation of darker skin tones; lack of model interpretability; and ethical issues related to patient privacy, data ownership, and accountability for diagnostic errors. Integrating AI tools into existing healthcare systems also requires overcoming interoperability barriers and adapting clinical workflows. Addressing these challenges through the development of explainable, ethically governed, and inclusively trained AI systems will be crucial for realising the full potential of AI in improving vitiligo diagnosis and treatment outcomes.