Why the DAIC Is Needed

Artificial Intelligence is making its way into dentistry. But it’s early––and perceptions of the technology still have a distinctly amorphous quality. 

On the one hand, there is clear excitement and desire to understand the potential benefits. On the other, there’s confusion about what AI really does and how it works. What is AI actually capable of? How accurate is it? How much can we –– a company, a clinician, a patient – rely on it?  But because AI is so new, answers to many of these really fundamental questions aren’t readily available. 

The uncertainty around AI kindles anxiety. What effect is this technology going to have on our business? If we invest in it, what is the expected ROI? How do we know it’s going to be effective? What will it take to deploy? Those are reasonable questions, because investments will need to be made. Money, engineers, training––all these resources are requisite to realizing the potential that AI offers.

To effectively capitalize on the technology, we need ready, relevant, reliable, research-based information that will clear the fog of uncertainty that surrounds AI in dentistry.  

After I launched Pearl and first discovered the gaps in AI-related education and information across the industry, I initially expected that existing trade organizations would already be working to close them. We joined several, including the NADP, ADSO, and ADA, where I became a member of the informatics committee. Quickly, however, we realized that none were adequately addressing this very pivotal technology. 

Since dental AI will continue to be fraught with confusion until we have an appreciable accumulation of trustworthy empirical evidence for the technology’s efficacy as well as its necessity – and since no one else was building that evidence – we organized the DAIC to take up the initiative.