An Aug. 12 study published in The Lancet found that routine use of artificial intelligence in colonoscopy procedures may reduce endoscopists’ ability to detect precancerous polyps when AI is not available.
Here are three things to know:
- Researchers from hospitals and medical schools across Europe and Japan analyzed more than 2,200 colonoscopies performed by 19 experienced endoscopists at four facilities in Poland. They compared procedures without AI before and after the adoption of AI-assisted colonoscopy.
- Adenoma detection rates in non-AI procedures dropped from 28.4% before AI adoption to 22.4% after, representing a 20% relative decline.
- The study authors suggested the decrease may be due to “deskilling” from cognitive offloading, and they recommended training strategies to preserve detection skills alongside AI use.
