Nvidia CEO discusses AI’s growing prevalence in radiology
The CEO of noted technology firm Nvidia recently discussed artificial intelligence’s growing prevalence in radiology.
Jensen Huang spoke alongside Elon Musk at the U.S.-Saudi business forum held in Washington, D.C. Musk said he believes growth in AI and robotics will lead to regular work duties being optional for many in the next 20 years.
Huang responded by highlighting how AI has made radiologists more in-demand than ever before, not less so.
“The surprising thing is the prediction that radiologists would be the first jobs to go was exactly the opposite. The trend shows that more radiologists are being hired now as a result of AI,” Huang said on Nov. 19, according to RealClear Politics.
"And the reason is that the goal of a radiologist is not to study the images," he added. "The goal of a radiologist is to diagnose a disease."
Huang said the evidence seems to signal AI will make radiologists and other workers more productive but also busier. “To give you some evidence: Radiology, for example, has largely been converted to AI-driven radiology, and there are some really great companies doing that,” he said.
Nvidia recently announced plans to roll out new AI models designed to behave like radiologists interpreting images. The company also has invested in radiology AI firm Aidoc, which announced a $150 million fundraising round in July. Elad Walach, CEO of Aidoc, highlighted other recent remarks from Huang about radiology, also made on Nov. 19.
“Hearing Jensen Huang call out radiology (and Aidoc) on NVIDIA's earnings call was humbling,” Walach wrote on LinkedIn, quoting Huang’s remarks on the investor call: “‘Now a new wave is rising. AI systems capable of reasoning, planning and using tools from coding assistants like Cursor and Claude Code to radiology tools like Aidoc, legal assistants like Harvey and AI chauffeurs like Tesla FSD, and Waymo…’”
“I couldn't agree more,” Walach wrote. “Radiology has this tremendous opportunity, and radiology is now getting the attention it deserves being in the eye of the storm. I think [a] big part of it is that rads are so innovative and always the first to embrace technology. That said, we have a ton of work ahead to make it happen.”
By Sunday, his post had gathered over 750 reactions and 50-plus comments, including from Gregory Nicola, MD, chair of the American College of Radiology Commission on Economics.
“While I agree, there are many great AI companies and products in radiology, Jensen Huang should stick to the facts,” Nicola wrote referring to the U.S.-Saudi business forum remarks. “He has two unfortunate mistruths. First off, most of radiology is not done by AI; in fact, a tiny fraction of a fraction of radiology is done by AI. Second, the radiology job market is not being driven by AI even remotely. Our AI leaders need to be telling the truth if they’re to gain the trust of humans let alone patients!”
“I agree,” responded Tessa Cook, MD, PhD, an associate professor of radiology with Penn Medicine, Philadelphia. “There is great potential for AI to help us take better care of patients, but to say that most of radiology is now done by AI is just wrong. And if the job market were being driven by AI, we wouldn't have 2 jobs for every new residency graduate!”
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.