Artificial intelligence in nephrology

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly growing branch of applied statistics with an emerging set of clinical applications. AI is a general term that employs computational models to mimic intelligent behavior. Machine learning (ML), a subfield of AI, is algorithm that identifies patterns in datasets to generate inferences. A joint growth in large biomedical datasets, statistical methodology, and hardware advances have ushered in a myriad of opportunities for AI to impact patient care. Commonly used ML/AI algorithms in clinical contexts include clinical decision support, early detection of disease progression, patient subtyping, image analysis in pathology/radiology, and genotype-to-phenotype analyses. Medical fields including neurology, cardiology, and pulmonology have out-paced nephrology in the use of ML techniques.