BALTIMORE, MD—A medical student, working with her coauthor, has discovered a new use for artificial intelligence in the medical field. Eunice O'Dell, 26, is a medical student with a bachelor's degree in computer science. She has been interested in ways that technology can assist with the medical profession since she learned of robotics-assisted surgeries, and has sought to find new advancements.
Her recent breakthrough is a new kind of technology that pinpoints which wrinkles on an individual were caused by which of their children.
"It started out as sort of a conversation starter I would take to parties," she told The Colon. "It was more of a parlor trick than anything at the time."
Her idea became very popular at the parties, and she was often sought out by other students and even some people in the community. She enjoyed the attention it brought, but did not see much practical use for it until an older man asked if her technique could hold up in a courtroom.
"I was blown away," she said. "I had never thought of using my invention for more than just something kind of funny to talk about."
The man reported that he wanted to sue his then-grown youngest child for physical ailments that manifested in his later years, blaming virtually all of his fragility on the young man's defiant and stubborn disposition as a child.
"I didn't know what to tell him. I didn't know anything about the law, but I didn't think that a jury would go for this new thing they'd never heard of. Anyway, I did a scan for him, and oh boy, that man was telling the truth. What a little [expletive] that kid must have been!"
O'Dell has now run scans on more than 540 participants and charted results that are likely to get her technique more attention.
"I taught the [artificially intelligent] computer how to identify these wrinkle patterns by having it analyze photos of famous people and take into account the births of their children, and then any social media posts made about what their kids were up to. I got some really terrifying results."
As for what her scans may lead to in the future, O'Dell thinks that she may be able to use them therapeutically to give people "a wake up call" with how to better discipline their children, or take care of themselves by taking some time away.
"Imagine that a little bug were gnawing at your scalp. You would maybe know that something was wrong, but you didn't know what until somebody pointed it out. That's sort of what I foresee with this thing."
At present, O'Dell has no plans to have children of her own.