Distinct visual biases affect humans and artificial intelligence in medical imaging diagnoses

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems can detect subtle features in diagnostic imaging scans that radiologists may miss, including higher-order features that lack obvious visual correlates. This may enable earlier disease detection and non-invasive lesion phenotyping, but also introduces risks due to AI's reliance on correlations rather than causation, potential demographic and technical biases, and uninterpretable reasoning. This perspective explores how radiologists and AI learn to perceive details in medical images differently, leading to potential discrepancies in medical decision-making.

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Publication Details

Journal
npj Digital Medicine
Published
2025-12-22
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-02226-5
Primary Topic
Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Distinct visual biases affect humans and artificial intelligence in medical imaging diagnoses

Emma A. M. Stanley, Nils D. Forkert, Graham A. McLeod, Tom Rosenal
npj Digital Medicine
Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
article

Distinct visual biases affect humans and artificial intelligence in medical imaging diagnoses

Emma A. M. Stanley, Nils D. Forkert, Graham A. McLeod, Tom Rosenal
article en

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems can detect subtle features in diagnostic imaging scans that radiologists may miss, including higher-order features that lack obvious visual correlates. This may enable earlier disease detection and non-invasive lesion phenotyping, but also introduces risks due to AI's reliance on correlations rather than causation, potential demographic and technical biases, and uninterpretable reasoning. This perspective explores how radiologists and AI learn to perceive details in medical images differently, leading to potential discrepancies in medical decision-making.

npj Digital MedicineVol. 9(1)
University of Calgary (CA), University of Victoria (CA), Alberta Children's Hospital (CA), Stanford Medicine (US), Hotchkiss Brain Institute (CA), Stanford University (US)
Peace, Justice and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 41%
Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
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Distinct visual biases affect humans and artificial intelligence in medical imaging diagnoses — Emma A. M. Stanley, Nils D. Forkert, et al. · npj Digital Medicine (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS