Image Generation of Common Dermatological Diagnoses by Artificial Intelligence: Evaluation Study of the Potential for...

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into dermatology holds promise for education and diagnostic purposes, particularly through image generation, which has not been well studied.

This study aimed to assess whether AI image generation software can generate accurate images of classic dermatological conditions and whether they are recognizable as computer-generated.

Images of 10 dermatological conditions were generated using DALLE-2 and DALLE-3 programs. These images were randomized among clinical photographs and distributed to dermatology residents and attending physicians. Participants were instructed to (1) identify AI-generated images and (2) provide their diagnosis.

AI-generated images were detected as computer-generated in 70.8% (85/120) of cases. Correct diagnoses were made based on all AI images 40.83% (49/120) of the time. This was significantly lower than the 72.0% (46/60) recognition rate for clinical photographs (P<.001). DALLE-2 images were diagnosed correctly less frequently (25.0%, 15/60) than DALLE-3 images (56.6%, 34/60; P<.001).

AI-generated images of common dermatological conditions are becoming more accurate. This holds great implications for education but should be used with caution as further research is needed with more advanced, specific, and inclusive training data. Limitations include the use of AI image generators created by a single parent company as well as the use of a limited set of diagnoses.