We’ve been hearing a lot about Artificial Intelligence (AI) lately. Thanks to widespread media coverage, we are beginning to understand how this rapidly emerging area of technology—which encompasses machine learning, robotics, natural language, predictive analytics and deep learning—will soon transform many aspects of our lives. Think self-driving cars. Humanoid robots greeting customers in a store. Algorithms that can accurately predict the perfect product choice, spot trends by sifting massive amounts of data, or diagnose an illness that confounds the experts.

Many retailers and suppliers already use AI, including some optical companies. For example, we encounter it whenever we call a customer service center and a computerized voice asks basic questions and guides us through a menu of prompts.

Sometimes it doesn’t seem all that intelligent, though. Like when the voice says, “Sorry, I didn’t understand that. Please enter your PIN now, then press the # key.” However, the natural language capability of computers is improving, and soon they’ll be more sensitive to human speech and better able to interpret words and respond to our voices.

In the optical arena, vision researchers are already finding ways to leverage the power of AI. One project that is drawing attention is the partnership between Google’s DeepMind Health and Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. The collaboration is aimed at helping eye health professionals make faster and more accurate diagnoses of the most common eye conditions, such as macular degeneration.

Microsoft is also exploring how AI can be used to help patients with vision problems. The company’s website describes its new interdisciplinary research collaboration, Project Tokyo, whose mission is to “deliver AI-enabled prototypes that augment awareness of the social, physical and textual environment for people who are blind or have vision impairments.”

AI is just starting to impact the optical world, but this powerful tool has enormous potential to help diagnose and treat vision problems and enhance the lives of those who suffer from them. To learn more about AI, or A-Eye, as I like to say, come to the Vision Monday Global Leadership Summit on March 29, 2017 in New York. Our theme is “A-Eye–Artificial Intelligence: Supercharging Knowledge and Decision Making.”

Andrew Karp
Group Editor, Lenses and Technology
[email protected]






















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