How to stay on top of AI advancements with Dr. Jeffrey Walline

At the 2024 Academy in Indianapolis, a plenary session highlighted the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on optometry. According to Jeffrey Walline, OD, PhD, FAAO, the discussion emphasized the need for optometrists to embrace AI to enhance their practice rather than be overshadowed by it. The Academy aims to educate professionals about AI's capabilities and potential challenges, particularly regarding patient privacy. Continuing education and optometric journals are recommended for staying updated on AI advancements. Optometrists should assess the relevance of AI to their practice, such as using AI for practice management or diagnostic tools, and critically evaluate the benefits and risks associated with each application.

Video transcript

Editor's note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Jeffrey Walline, OD, PhD, FAAO:

At the Academy 2024 [meeting] in Indianapolis, the plenary session was just sort of a primer on artificial intelligence (AI), and that is obviously something that I think is going to change our profession dramatically in the not too distant future. So we've got to figure out what optometry's role is in AI and how we can best put it at the forefront of our practice, so that it helps enhance practice, as opposed to take over practice. And I think that's what the Academy can help people do by educating them about not only what AI can do, but sort of what are the things that AI makes difficult, or what are some of the things that we should be aware of related to AI that can make it more difficult for us to protect our patients privacy? So that's the kinds of things that I think we can do to try and help the profession in the long term.

I think the best way for doctors to keep up with AI, because it's such a rapidly advancing area, is to attend the continuing education lectures and read the optometric journals, because they're going to provide lots of really important information related to: what areas are we advancing in? What areas are possible now? And then, every practice will have to sort of on their own determine whether that type of benefit is beneficial for them and their practice. So it might be that you have practice management software that's AI related and can create letters that you write related to individual patients, or it may be the AI does photographic reading and to help you understand whether or not a patient may have diabetic retinopathy. So it sort of depends on what area is a particular need for a practice, and I think that doctors can then hone their own intellect on that particular area and really go into depth and find out the benefits and the risks related to AI and that area of advancement.