Striving for quality improvement: can artificial intelligence help?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is of keen interest for global health development as potential support for current human shortcomings. Gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy is an excellent substrate for AI, since it holds the genuine potential to improve quality in GI endoscopy and overall patient care by improving detection and diagnosis guiding the endoscopists in performing endoscopy to the highest quality standards. The possibility of large data acquisitioning to refine algorithms makes implementation of AI into daily practice a potential reality. With the start of a new era adopting deep learning, large amounts of data can easily be processed, resulting in better diagnostic performances. In the upper gastrointestinal tract, research currently focusses on the detection and characterization of neoplasia, including Barrett's, squamous cell and gastric carcinoma, with an increasing amount of AI studies demonstrating the potential and benefit of AI-augmented endoscopy. Deep learning applied to small bowel video capsule endoscopy also appears to enhance pathology detection and reduce capsule reading time. In the colon, multiple prospective trials including five randomized trials, showed a consistent improvement in polyp and adenoma detection rates, one of the main quality indicators in endoscopy. There are however potential additional roles for AI to assist in quality improvement of endoscopic procedures, training and therapeutic decision making. Further large-scale, multicenter validation trials are required before AI-augmented diagnostic gastrointestinal endoscopy can be integrated into our routine clinical practice.