Artificial intelligence invites itself into your toilet

Artificial intelligence invites itself into your toilet

It's perfectly anonymous and also very serious. MIT researchers and a startup have created the first artificial intelligence that can diagnose intestinal problems. On a voluntary basis, Internet users can send photos of their stool to complete this huge database and train the AI.

Artificial intelligence is increasingly present in everyday life, thanks in particular to the development of machine learning and deep learning, which allows it to analyze the world and bring new solutions. After mastering video games, creating realistic videos or completing research, AI now attacks human faeces.

Feces are a veritable mine of medical information. The visual aspect provides information on the state of the intestinal flora, diet, and provides information on the dysfunctions and diseases of the digestive system. A group of researchers wants to create a tool that can automatically analyze stool images to assess patient health. The project is a collaboration between researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Auggi, a virtual coach for intestinal health in application form, and Seed, a start-up focused on microbiome health.

Artificial intelligence invites itself into your toilet

Internet users called to contribute for science

To create an artificial intelligence capable of diagnosing intestinal problems, researchers first need a consistent image bank of human stools. They first began their research by creating fake stools from modeling clay. Then, they went through the web looking for real images, and found their happiness on online forums, like Reddit, where many users discuss their feces and share photos ... However, the material available was far from enough.

A website, visible from his mobile phone, allows to send the photos of his big commission. © Seed Health

The researchers launched a new #GiveAShit campaign that asks everyone to send photos of their faeces. The name is a play on the English word meaning "caring" or "paying attention to", which literally translates as "giving shit". Specifically, you must go to seed.com/poop/ with your smartphone, because the site refuses images from a computer. Press the "I accept the DARE" button, fill in your e-mail address, the time of day you usually defecate, and take a picture of your turd, or request a reminder within the specified time period.

A database of 100,000 images of faeces

The images are anonymized and analyzed by a team of gastroenterologists, who classify them as one of seven categories on the Bristol scale. The researchers hope to create a database of 100,000 images that will serve as training for artificial intelligence. The AI ​​will have to learn alone to classify them on the Bristol scale to achieve the same results as the doctors.

The researchers hope to create a diagnostic tool accessible to all, which could be used especially by patients suffering from gastric problems. "They strive every day to make decisions about what to eat and the amount of physical exercise they need to control their symptoms. It is essential to build this database and develop these simple surveillance tools to enable these patients to do so from home, "said David Hachuel, co-founder of Auggi.