Joseph Zabinski Advocates for Patient Trust in AI Adoption in Dermatology Care

Joseph Zabinski, PhD, MEM, vice president, head of commercial strategy and AI at OM1, talked with MHE editors about the importance of patient acceptance in the adoption of AI in healthcare, emphasizing the need for trust and transparency in AI tools.

Zabinksi highlighted the growing familiarity of patients with AI through general use in daily life but cautioned the importance of building trust in healthcare. He stressed that AI should complement and support clinicians rather than replace them.

In addition, he shared supporting evidence of increasing comfort with AI among patients but noted the ongoing need for trust-building efforts.

"It's a very powerful set of tools that give significant advantages in some areas over tools that exist, but it's not perfect. It's not magic, it's not always right," he said.

Regarding dermatology's acceptance of AI, Zabinski noted the field's interest in innovative data-driven tools while maintaining a practical outlook on their usefulness in practice.

He suggested that dermatology, like other medical specialties, is not yet saturated with AI tools but is on the path towards adoption.

Though, there is potential of AI in dermatology, particularly in image analysis for diagnosing rare diseases and closing gaps in diagnosis and treatment, he said.

When discussing the visual component of dermatology, Zabinski acknowledged the advantages of AI in analyzing visual information to aid in triage and diagnosis.

However, he cautioned against bias and misrepresentation in AI training and application, especially concerning skin types and appearances.

Zabinski stressed the importance of representative training data and careful use of AI tools to avoid causing harm and undermining trust in dermatology.