'This could help millions of women': Rishi Sunak hails first-of-its-kind AI ... trends now

Thousands of British women will have their mammograms assessed by an AI 'doctor' in a real-time clinical trial aimed at improving early breast cancer detection, Rishi Sunak will announce this week.

Speaking ahead of a global summit on artificial intelligence in South Korea, the Prime Minister said the AI technology could help improve aspects of Britain's health service.

But they added regulations needed to be brought in to ensure the technology worked for the benefit of mankind and not to its detriment. 

Alongside his South Korean counterpart, Mr Sunak hailed a collaboration between the NHS and Korean firm Lunit on using AI to improve the speed and accuracy of breast cancer diagnosis as an example of the positives of the new technology. 

'AI is changing the world around us. It has the potential to help us cure diseases, fight climate change, revolutionise public services and improve lives,' they wrote in a joint article in The i. 

Specifically mentioning the NHS/Lunit trial they added: 'We all know how vital early detection is - so just imagine what improvements here could mean for millions of women and their families.'

Britain's trial of using AI in breast cancer diagnosis has been celebrated as the first of its kind. 

Clinicians will use Lunit's AI to analyse mammograms at a breast-screening clinic operated by the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Normally, this process is done by two radiologists who each separately look at a scan to help ensure no signs of cancer are missed. 

But new trial substitutes one of the medics with the AI.

If successful the practice could be rolled out more widely in the NHS, a move that will speed up diagnosis of breast cancer and enable earlier detection by freeing up more radiologists. 

Royal colleges have warned England faces a 29 per cent shortfall of radiologists and the issue is contributing to too many Brits waiting too long for cancer treatment. 

Official health service data show only 91 per cent of cancer patients started treatment within a month of learning they had the disease. The NHS standard is for 96 per cent of patients to start treatment in this timeframe. 

The NHS/Lunit breast cancer AI trial started in February and will see 50 per cent of patients have their scans analysed with the help of the AI tool.

It is anticipated that 2,575 scans will be looked at using the system with the results compared when the trial concludes next year. 

Dr Nisha Sharma, consultant radiologist and director of the breast screening programme for Leeds and Wakefield, told the i: 'This is an important study as we are facing significant workforce challenges and this trial may support us in continuing to deliver a high-quality service with AI.'

But in their joint article both Mr Sunak and South Korea's President, Yoon Suk Yeol, both warned that tech companies needed to do more to combat the potential dangers posed by AI. 

Critics of the technology have warned it poses risks such causing large-scale unemployment, being used by terrorists, and even going rogue. 

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK with almost 56,000 cases diagnosed each year.

This accounts for about one in six of all cancer cases and equivalent to about 150 diagnoses each day.

While the vast majority of these are among women, about 370 men in the UK each year are also diagnosed with breast cancer.

Almost 11,500 Brits die from breast cancer each year making it the second biggest cause of cancer deaths among women.

The risk of breast cancer broadly increases with age, but other factors,

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