Chris Bennett: Embrace technology and don’t fear change

Artificial intelligence is one of those Tomorrow’s World phrases that has suddenly become everyday parlance.

The news this week from Moorfields that AI matched world-leading eye experts in picking up on a range of conditions by studying OCT scans shows just how far the technology has come and why it needs to be adopted, but are people ready?

Moorfields was working in conjunction with UCL and DeepMind Health, Google’s neuroscience-inspired agency that develops learning algorithms using neural networks to recognise patterns. It’s an accelerative process. Every scan taken adds to the accumulation of knowledge, the better the data, the better the outcomes. Machines are quick, accurate and don’t stop for coffee and, with 600,000 macular disease sufferers in the UK, speed is of the essence.