Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Applications to Epilepsy: a Review for the Practicing Epileptologist

Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are data-driven techniques to translate raw data into applicable and interpretable insights that can assist in clinical decision making. Some of these tools have extremely promising initial results, earning both great excitement and creating hype. This non-technical article reviews recent developments in ML/AI in epilepsy to assist the current practicing epileptologist in understanding both the benefits and limitations of integrating ML/AI tools into their clinical practice.

ML/AI tools have been developed to assist clinicians in almost every clinical decision including (1) predicting future epilepsy in people at risk, (2) detecting and monitoring for seizures, (3) differentiating epilepsy from mimics, (4) using data to improve neuroanatomic localization and lateralization, and (5) tracking and predicting response to medical and surgical treatments. We also discuss practical, ethical, and equity considerations in the development and application of ML/AI tools including chatbots based on Large Language Models (e.g., ChatGPT). ML/AI tools will change how clinical medicine is practiced, but, with rare exceptions, the transferability to other centers, effectiveness, and safety of these approaches have not yet been established rigorously. In the future, ML/AI will not replace epileptologists, but epileptologists with ML/AI will replace epileptologists without ML/AI.