Leonardo Iheme, a lead data scientist at EPAM Systems, a Turkish company, has called for the adoption and use of artificial intelligence in Nigerian hospitals to enhance breast cancer treatment among women.

Mr Iheme made the call on Wednesday in Bauchi while presenting a paper titled ‘Empowering the AI Revolution: A Guide for Modern Educators’ at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi.

He explained that AI could effectively diagnose and detect cancer early in women with a great deal of accuracy.

The data scientist added that early detection could lead to early treatment, saving many lives.

He said this would complement the efforts of the few available competent oncologists at various cancer treatment centres across the country.

Mr Iheme said that the high number of patients seeking cancer diagnosis puts pressure and stress on the doctors, causing minor errors in detecting tumours in patients, saying this could be avoided with the use of AI.

“Students who use AI are more likely to perform better than students who do not make use of AI. I’ve been working with AI for more than 12 years, and I can tell you with full confidence that since I started using AI in my work, I have been more productive.

“There are things I could do in three hours before, and today, I can do them in 20 minutes with the help of AI,” the data scientist said.

According to him, there is a need for the Nigerian government’s involvement in applying AI in all spheres of life.

He said if effectively applied, AI could help develop health, agriculture, education, and other sectors of the economy.

“It’s important for our public sector, specifically the government, to be involved in this transformation, and I’m very happy to say that in Nigeria, we are striving towards that.

“I’ve seen the works of the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani and what he has been doing in this regard and so many other initiatives,” he said.

The vice-chancellor of the university, Muhammad Abdul’aziz, called on members of staff and students to make the best use of the resources offered by AI to deepen research and innovation.

(NAN)