Challenges in AI-Driven Dermatology: Understanding Current Limitations

Announcer:
You’re listening to Clinician’s Roundtable on ReachMD. On this episode, we’ll discuss limitations to consider in the use of artificial intelligence for hair loss management with Dr. Maria Hordinsky. Dr. Hordinsky is the R.W. Goltz Professor and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Minnesota and spoke on this topic at the 2025 AAD Annual Meeting. Let’s hear from her now.

Dr. Hordinsky:
Right now, there are two major limitations. The first one is the time needed to employ this technology and do it well and be able to upload the pictures and the data into patients’ charts. Not all electronic medical records are linked to some of this AI technology, so there’s time involved, and time equals effort and money. So everyone who’s doing this type of work has to figure out how they are going to do that in their clinic setting. What are they going to charge the patient to cover the time needed to perform these procedures?

The other thing is you need to be able to understand it’s still a technology. There can be issues with data on the cloud; there can be issues with the system itself. You have to be able to troubleshoot with the manufacturer if needed to be able to continue the process in clinic. So those are some of the hiccups that one can experience in the clinic.

There are several handheld devices that patients can obtain themselves. And so a savvy patient who’s already done some of these techniques, they know what we’re looking for, and then they purchase these tools on Amazon and begin to apply them to their own scalps. And there’s a lot of data that you can get from the Amazon devices. The more expensive device is the ones where you usually have a technician or a technical person doing the work, but there’s still something to be said for the use of these handheld devices that the consumer can buy.

So as soon as you introduce a new technology, one needs to figure out how frequently this is done; is this worthwhile? All those types of things. And that’s important to get done. It’s really important to just understand it’s like any new technology. You have to decide you’re going to do it, learn it, and then use it, and then you’ll find out how valuable it is for both you as the practitioner as well as the patient, but it takes that investment of time and energy and to some degree some money.

Announcer:
That was Dr. Maria Hordinsky discussing limitations to consider in the use of artificial intelligence for hair loss management. To access this and other episodes in our series, visit Clinician’s Roundtable on ReachMD.com, where you can Be Part of the Knowledge. Thanks for listening!