Artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning tools are now a part of many people’s daily lives, whether they are using ChatGPT to write email responses or sophisticated analysis tools to track economic trends. Although patients may not interact directly with the AI tools used in ophthalmology practices, an AI program may evaluate the images from their optical coherence tomography (OCT). As additional applications arise for the use of AI in ophthalmology, including in the diagnosis and monitoring of diabetic macular edema (DME), it is important to ask, “AI in DME: At Its Infancy or Flash in the Pan?”
T. Y. Alvin Liu, MD, posed this question as the title of his presentation during the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute’s MACULA 2025 and the 5th Annual Retina Festival. Liu leads the James P. Gills Jr., M.D., and Heather Gills Artificial Intelligence Innovation Center, which was created following a $10 million donation from James and Heather Gills to further the clinical, scientific, and infrastructure resources for investigators to apply AI in research, medical education, and patient care.