Inside STAT: MIT researcher held up as model of how algorithms can benefit humanity

MIT RESEARCHER REGINA BARZILAY RECEIVED A NEW PRIZE FROM THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. (MIT CSAIL)

MIT's Regina Barzilay was just announced as the inaugural winner of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence's $1 million award honoring an individual who has developed AI for the good of society. Unlike other major AI awards, which recognize scientific achievement, this award — sponsored by Chinese company Squirrel AI — aims to counter much of the negative concerns about AI. And with Barzilay, the award may achieve that goal. After a breast cancer diagnosis in 2014, Barzilay helped develop a technology being deployed with mammograms at Massachusetts General Hospital — a deep learning model that assesses breast-cancer risk and earlier this summer was used to predict her own risk. STAT's Rebecca Robbins has more here.