Radiologists in the loop: the roles of radiologists in the development of AI applications

OBJECTIVES: To examine the various roles of radiologists in different steps of developing artificial intelligence (AI) applications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Through the case study of eight companies active in developing AI applications for radiology, in different regions (Europe, Asia, and North America), we conducted 17 semi-structured interviews and collected data from documents. Based on systematic thematic analysis, we identified various roles of radiologists. We describe how each role happens across the companies and what factors impact how and when these roles emerge. RESULTS: We identified 9 roles that radiologists play in different steps of developing AI applications: (1) problem finder (in 4 companies); (2) problem shaper (in 3 companies); (3) problem dominator (in 1 company); (4) data researcher (in 2 companies); (5) data labeler (in 3 companies); (6) data quality controller (in 2 companies); (7) algorithm shaper (in 3 companies); (8) algorithm tester (in 6 companies); and (9) AI researcher (in 1 company). CONCLUSIONS: Radiologists can play a wide range of roles in the development of AI applications. How actively they are engaged and the way they are interacting with the development teams significantly vary across the cases. Radiologists need to become proactive in engaging in the development process and embrace new roles. KEY POINTS: • Radiologists can play a wide range of roles during the development of AI applications. • Both radiologists and developers need to be open to new roles and ways of interacting during the development process. • The availability of resources, time, expertise, and trust are key factors that impact how actively radiologists play roles in the development process. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00330-021-07879-w.