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Talk therapy? AI may detect ‘earliest symptoms’ of dementia by analyzing speech patterns

A new artificial intelligence-powered tool aims to detect signs of dementia, Alzheimer’s and other memory disorders by analyzing a person’s speech and language patterns.

The system is called CognoSpeak. Researchers at the University of Sheffield in the U.K. developed it. 

In early trials that included both Alzheimer’s patients and cognitively heathy people, the tool showed 90% accuracy in identifying those with dementia — which is just as accurate as “pen-and-paper tests,” according to a press release announcing the new tool.

AI TOOL GIVES DOCTORS PERSONALIZED ALZHEIMER’S TREATMENT PLANS FOR DEMENTIA PATIENTS

The patient communicates with a “virtual agent” displayed via a web browser on a computer, laptop or tablet.

The virtual agent poses certain questions to patients — similar to the ones used to test memory skills during in-person consultations — and also asks them to describe pictures and test their verbal fluency.  

A new artificial intelligence-powered tool aims to detect signs of dementia, Alzheimer’s and other memory disorders by analyzing a person’s speech and language patterns. (iStock)

At that point, CognoSpeak’s built-in AI technology analyzes the patient’s language and speech patterns to detect any cognitive warning signs.

Researchers next plan to test the tool on 700 participants from U.K. memory clinics, with funding provided by the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

The goal is for CognoSpeak to help enable faster diagnosis by serving as a “middle man” between the general practitioner and the dementia specialist. 

“This tool could help patients start treatments sooner, reduce waiting times and give people certainty earlier.”

The physician would refer the patient to CognoSpeak and the test results would be routed back to the doctor — who would then decide whether the patient needed further memory care.

INTERNET USE BY SENIORS ON REGULAR BASIS COULD SLASH THEIR DEMENTIA RISK, STUDY SUGGESTS

“Waiting for a possible diagnosis of dementia can be a very anxious time for patients and their families,” said Dr. Dan Blackburn from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Neuroscience in the press release. “This tool could help patients start treatments sooner, reduce waiting times and give people certainty earlier.”

He added, “This would also free up clinicians’ valuable time and mean that those who need specialist care get access to it as quickly as possible.”

Connection between speech and dementia

One of the earliest symptoms of dementia is struggling to find words and pausing during speech, noted Dr. James Galvin, director of the Comprehensive Center for Brain Health at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.

Galvin was not involved in CognoSpeak’s research or development.

The patient communicates with a “virtual agent” — which asks questions to test the person’s memory skills and cognitive fluency. (iStock)

“Using AI to analyze speech in the primary care setting could be a quick, reliable way to assess cognitive status, even if a person does not offer a memory complaint,” he said. 

Dr. Michael Kleiman, PhD, a research assistant professor of neurology at the Comprehensive Center for Brain Health at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, is a colleague of Galvin’s who has studied the link between speech behavior and detection of early stages of cognitive impairment.

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“Speech patterns in general are highly useful at identifying cognitive impairment, and some of the components of CognoSpeak, including picture descriptions, are frequently used by neuropsychologists and neurologists to assess and diagnose dementia,” Kleiman said. (He also has no affiliation with CognoSpeak.)

“If this tool is able to effectively process the speech data in an accurate and efficient manner, as well as keep patients engaged, we would expect that it would be useful for clinicians when assessing cognitive impairment,” he added.

Some 5.8 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (iStock)

As with all diseases, early detection is key, experts agree — which is why the speed of CognoSpeak could be beneficial.

“Given that Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are progressive, it is important to catch these changes early in order to implement available interventions when they can be most effective to slow down cognitive decline,” Percy Griffin, PhD, the director of scientific engagement at the Alzheimer’s Association in Chicago, Illinois, said to Fox News Digital.

‘More work is needed’

While experts agree that the role of AI in neurology shows promise, more research is needed before it can be relied upon as a primary indicator.

While speech testing is useful, experts noted that it’s not the only component necessary for diagnosing dementia. (iStock)

“Although this technology is encouraging, more work is needed in larger, more representative study populations to further validate the utility of AI tools like this one in helping to diagnose Alzheimer’s,” said Griffin.

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“In the future, this could be another tool in the toolbox for early detection of Alzheimer’s,” he added.

And while speech testing is useful, experts noted that it’s not the only component necessary for diagnosing dementia.

“Other aspects of cognition — in particular, memory — and a detailed neurological examination must also be examined to establish a true diagnosis,” Kleiman said.

The physician would refer the patient to CognoSpeak and the test results would be routed back to the doctor — who would then decide whether the patient needed further memory care. (iStock)

Ideally, Percy added, the availability of non-invasive and potentially less expensive approaches to early detection and diagnosis — a combination of blood tests, simple digital tests and other tools — would make cognitive assessments available to more people. 

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Around 5.8 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The number of cases is expected to reach 14 million by 2060.

Melissa Rudy is health editor and a member of the lifestyle team at Fox News Digital. 

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AI can contain gender bias, leading to potential disadvantages for women, expert says

Some experts have raised concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) could have its own gender gap if more women aren’t involved in its development and dataset analysis.

“It’s not just AI, but I would say engineering as a whole,” Dr. Georgianna Shea, chief technologist at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI), told Fox News Digital. “Whenever there’s any type of engineering process for anything, you don’t want to end up with bias-based engineers.”

Adding to the debate, Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, recently said in an interview that she was concerned there was a lack of women working in the field of artificial intelligence, which she said made her nervous about potential biases in platforms. 

Shea said the problem is two-fold: Not only does the field require more women to help guide the development of AI platforms, the datasets used to inform and train the AI already use biased data. 

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Not only does the field require more women to help guide the development of AI platforms, the datasets used to inform and train the AI already use biased data, according to the chief technologist at the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation. (iStock)

“There’s another aspect that the data you’re included in those AIs are … [that you’re] making sure you’re getting the data about women, including women understanding how much data represents them,” Shea said.

Shea used the example of a gender-dominated field like nursing, of which women comprise roughly 86% of workers, which would potentially then pick information that favors women when drawing conclusions about the nursing field and industry, putting male workers at a disadvantage for utilizing an AI platform to gain relevant information. 

“Men and women are physiologically different, so if you have a set of men who are testing a drug, then maybe the body mass index is higher or lower than it would be if it was a woman … there’s just fundamental differences, so the data itself is going to show that this how it came out based on that test set of people,” she argued. 

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Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks during the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting in New York on Sept. 19, 2022. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Women have raised concerns about how gender bias might influence AI for years now, with the Stanford Social Innovation Review discussing possible issues in 2019: The authors argued that institutions making decisions based on AI and using machine learning suffer a “pervasive” gender bias that has profound effects on women’s short and long-term well-being and security. 

Part of that is due to filtering all data into a single processor without disaggregation by sex and gender, which leads to “concealing important differences … and hides potential overrepresentation and underrepresentation.” 

In the tech industry, women comprise around 28% of the tech industry workforce as of 2022, according to a compilation of data from Zippia.com. Further, women make up around 34.4% of the workforce at the largest tech companies in the U.S.

SALESFORCE, DELOITTE DIGITAL TEAM UP FOR GENERATIVE AI

Aaron Levie, chief executive officer and co-founder of Box Inc., from left, Stewart Butterfield, chief executive officer of Slack Technologies Inc., Jennifer Tejada, chief executive officer of PagerDuty Inc., Eric Yuan, founder and chief executive officer of Zoom Video Communications Inc., and Todd McKinnon, chief executive officer and co-founder of Okta Inc., participate in a panel discussion at the BoxWorks 2019 Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019. BoxWorks brings together leaders across the technology sector to define the future of work and build digital-first companies.  (Michael Short/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Only 15% of engineering jobs are held by women, and women leave the tech industry at a 45% higher rate than men do, according to DataProt. 

Shea compared biased data sets to military equipment, such as a tank or similar vehicle, which was developed for men since they alone could serve in combat roles up until the military changed protocol around 10 years ago. With full integration in 2015, the military and engineers had to start refitting vehicles to accommodate a woman’s minimal height and weight requirements for safety. 

The key to ensuring that any AI platform does not stumble on this issue is to consider the context of an AI platform, according to Shea. 

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“You have to understand, why are we building this system? What is the purpose? Who’s it going to affect? What kind of guidance do we need that’s not going to incorporate those societal biases, those data biases that might be in there?” she said. 

“So you have to identify that and include it in the process and exclude gender as a component for selection,” she added. 

Peter Aitken is a Fox News Digital reporter with a focus on national and global news. 

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This Asian-American success story applauds Supreme Court affirmative action ruling

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There is nothing more un-American than to be limited in your potential because of your ethnic background or the color of your skin. The Supreme Court’s decision announced June 29, in the consolidated cases of Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. (SFFA) v. Harvard and University of North Carolina is a victory for the American Dream and students across the country. 

For 40 years, American colleges and universities have stacked the deck against Asian Americans in the name of diversity. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race.  

That hasn’t stopped prominent colleges and universities from using race and ethnicity to deny admission to unfavored minorities. Affirmative action’s discriminatory nature has been deeply impactful to the approximately 22 million Asian Americans who deserve equal opportunities to pursue their education.  

SUPREME COURT JUSTICES THOMAS, SOTOMAYOR READ AFFIRMATIVE ACTION OPINIONS FROM THE BENCH IN RARE MOVE

When this case was accepted by the court, Harvard President Lawrence Bacow issued a statement accusing the plaintiffs of political motivations. Nothing could be further from the truth.  

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to end racial discrimination in college admissions. Here are the justices: (front row L-R) Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, and Associate Justice Elena Kagan, (back row L-R) Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

A 2019 survey by the National Association for College Admission Counseling found that 24.6% of schools admitted that race had a “considerable” or “moderate” influence on admissions.  

The bias is significant enough that the Princeton Review, a company dedicated to college prep and test-taking strategies, advised Asian highschoolers in their book “Cracking College Admissions,” to avoid including a photo of themselves in their application, refrain from answering any questions about their ethnic background, and stay away from writing their admissions essays about their cultures.  

It is disgusting that academically accomplished students should be forced to hide who they are for a decent shot at attending a university. I immigrated to this country from South Korea when I was 19 years old to pursue an education in California.  

I am living my American Dream because, in this country, your actions determine your fate — not your race, ethnicity or socio-economic background. 

I have worked for decades to ensure that students of all races and backgrounds are judged solely on their merits. In 1996, I campaigned for California’s Proposition 209, which banned racial preferences in public hiring, education and contracting.  

After Proposition 209 passed, graduation rates drastically improved for all minorities. Californians recognized the value of eliminating racial discrimination in education and overwhelmingly rejected an effort to reintroduce racial preferences in 2021.  

Last Congress, I asked the secretary of Education about these discriminatory practices at universities like Harvard, and he agreed that “students should have an opportunity to apply and get into colleges based on their own merit.” 

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Most recently, I led an amicus brief with 81 of my colleagues in Congress to support the plaintiffs of SFFA v. Harvard and U.N.C., and I am proud to see the fruits of our labor in the Supreme Court’s decision. 

I immigrated to this country from South Korea when I was 19 years old to pursue an education in California. I am living my American Dream because, in this country, your actions determine your fate — not your race, ethnicity or socio-economic background. 

As a nation, we believe, as taught by Dr. Martin Luther King, that every human should ” not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”  For 40 years, that belief was conveniently ignored by American universities, but no longer.  

This marks a new day for higher education. Thanks to the brave young men and women who spoke up about their experience with racial discrimination, future students across the country can be assured that their path to achieve their American Dream will be determined only by their efforts and achievements. 

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Racial and ethnic discrimination has no place in this country. We are a nation of immigrants, and each of us, from every ethnic and racial background, adds a valuable and irreplaceable ingredient to the American melting pot. But we cannot undermine other’s opportunities in the name of equality.  

The Supreme Court’s decision reaffirms our American creed of liberty and justice for all. I look forward to wonderful accomplishments by the young men and women who will once again be able to pursue their full potential in confidence that the American Dream is alive and well.  

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM REP. MICHELLE STEEL

Republican Michelle Steel represents California’s 48th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is a first generation Korean American and is one of the first Korean American women ever to serve in the U.S. Congress.

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Congress pushes aggressive use of AI in the federal government, says AI ‘under-utilized’ in agencies

House lawmakers are urging federal agencies to quickly and aggressively adopt artificial intelligence technology, at a time when the push from civil rights and industry groups for new AI regulations is still waiting to get off the ground.

The House Appropriations Committee, led by Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, released several spending bills this week that encourage the government to incorporate AI into everything from national security functions to routine office work to the detection of pests and diseases in crops. Several of those priorities are not just encouraged but would get millions of dollars in new funding under the legislation still being considered by the committee.

And while comprehensive AI regulations are likely still months away and are unlikely to be developed this year, lawmakers seem keen on making sure the government is deploying AI where it can. The bills are backed by the GOP majority, and Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., the vice chair of the Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus, said agencies shouldn’t have to wait to start using AI.

“We should support federal agencies harnessing the power and benefits of AI, as it has proven itself to be a powerful tool and will continue to be an invaluable asset for our federal agencies,” he told Fox News Digital. “The Departments of Energy and Defense, for example, have been leveraging AI for technical projects to enhance precision and accomplish tasks beyond human capabilities.”

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Chairwoman Kay Granger, R-Texas, center, has been working to move bills that would encourage the government to deploy AI systems to help them do their jobs better. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Beyer added that he is “encouraged” by commitments some agencies have made to ensure AI is used ethically, such as those made by the Department of Defense and intelligence agencies.

In the spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security, language is included that would fund AI and machine learning capabilities to help review cargo shipments at U.S. ports and for port inspections.

“As the Committee has previously noted, delays in the integration of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and autonomy into the program require CBP Officers to manually review thousands of images to hunt for anomalies,” according to report language on the bill. “Automation decreases the chance that narcotics and other contraband will be missed and increases the interdiction of narcotics that move through the nation’s [ports of entry].”

The bill encourages DHS to use “commercial, off-the-shelf artificial intelligence capabilities” to improve government efforts to catch travelers and cargo that should not be allowed to enter the United States. It also calls on DHS to explore using AI to enforce the border, to help ensure the right illegal immigrants are removed, and at the Transportation Security Agency.

The committee’s bill to fund the Defense Department warns that the Pentagon is not moving fast enough to adopt AI technologies.

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Representative Don Beyer, a Democrat from Virginia, told Fox News Digital that federal agencies need access to AI technology, and said he was encouraged by some of the ethics principles that some agencies have been developping. Photographer: Oliver Contreras/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“Capabilities such as automation, artificial intelligence, and other novel business practices – which are readily adopted by the private sector – are often ignored or under-utilized across the Department’s business operations,” the report said. “This bill takes aggressive steps to address this issue.”

Among other things, the bill wants DOD to explore how to use AI to “significantly reduce or eliminate manual processes across the department,” and says that effort justifies a $1 billion cut to the civilian defense workforce.

The bill also wants DOD to report on how it can measure its efforts to adopt AI, and to take on more student interns with AI experience.

The spending bill funding Congress itself wants legislative staff to explore how AI might be used to create closed captioning services for hearings, and how else AI might be used to improve House operations.

House lawmakers also see a need for AI at the Department of Agriculture. Among other things, the bill adds more money for AI in an agricultural research program run by the U.S. and Israel, proposes the use of AI and machine learning to detect pests and diseases in crops, and supports ongoing work to use AI for “precision agriculture and food system security.”

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., says it will still be months before he begins getting stakeholder input for new AI rules. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The effort to expand the government’s use of AI comes despite the pressure that has been building on Congress to quickly impose a regulatory framework around this emerging and already widely used technology. Lawmakers in the House and Senate have held several hearings on the issue, which have raised ideas that include a new federal agency to regulate AI and an AI commission.

But despite the urgency, Congress continues to move slowly. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said last week that he still wanted to take several months to take input, and implied that an AI regulatory plan might not be passed by Congress until next year.

“Later this fall, I will convene the top minds in artificial intelligence here in Congress for a series of AI Insight Forums to lay down a new foundation for AI policy,” he said last week.

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The full committee is expected to take up these and other spending bills in the coming months – Republicans have made it clear they want to move funding bills for fiscal year 2024 on time this year, which means finishing by the summer.

Pete Kasperowicz is a politics editor at Fox News Digital.

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LAURA INGRAHAM: Are Americans to be perpetually divided by race?

Laura: This about sums it up

Fox News host Laura Ingraham gives her take on the implications of the Supreme Court ending affirmative action in college admissions on ‘The Ingraham Angle.’

Fox News host Laura Ingraham shares the significance of the Supreme Court’s college affirmative action ruling on “The Ingraham Angle.”

LAURA INGRAHAM: They can fume all they want, but as one of the main forces behind the case, Edward Blum remarked today, this opinion “marks the beginning of the restoration of the colorblind legal covenant that binds together our multiracial and our multiethnic nation.” But not according to the deeply negative view of America from the court’s newest and arguably the most activist justice — Ketanji Brown Jackson. Well, despite recusing herself from hearing Harvard’s companion case, she decided to chime in on the NC State decision, coming darn close to personally attacking Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote, as I said, that powerful concurrence. Jackson accused him of having “an obsession with race consciousness.” 

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And also this, she wrote, “The takeaway is that those who demand no one think about race, a classic pink elephant paradox, refuse to see, much less solve for, the elephant in the room — the race-linked disparities that continue to impede achievement of our great nation’s full potential.” Our country, she writes, “has never been colorblind.” Justice Clarence Thomas , again in that barn-burner of a concurrence, wrote a devastating rebuke to follow Justice Jackson. “As she sees things, we are all inexorably trapped in a fundamentally racist society, with the original sin of slavery and the historical subjugation of Black Americans still determining our lives today… Worse still, Justice Jackson uses her broad observations about statistical relationships between race and select measures of health, wealth and well-being to label all Blacks as victims. Her desire to do so is unfathomable to me.” 

Are Americans to be perpetually divided by race? The elites say yes, but a good majority of Americans and six Supreme Court justices on the court say no. Politicians who defend the racial spoils system that has roiled so much of American society, they do so because they want to keep the people scared and divided. After decades of Democrats in charge and their fake appeals for racial healing, what’s happened to urban America? 

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It’s worse. It’s worse off, not better off. Healing, real healing, comes when all Americans are treated equally without regard to race . The Left fears what we’re building — a multiracial, multiethnic coalition that believes in helping American workers and upholding our Constitution. 

This article was written by Fox News staff.

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Protesters descend on Philadelphia ahead of Trump, DeSantis’ Moms for Liberty appearances

Moms for Liberty is set to host former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday at their Joyful Warriors National Summit as protesters descend on the City of Brotherly Love.

Protesters gathered outside the barricaded Museum of the American Revolution, where summit attendees appeared for the welcome reception. 

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They called out various chants amid Philadelphia’s heavy police presence. 

Joshua Comins is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. He joined Fox News in 2020.

He covers media, politics, breaking news and current events. 

Story tips can be sent to joshua.comins@fox.com.

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On this day in history, June 30, 1936, ‘Gone with the Wind’ is published

Author Margaret Mitchell published the American classic novel “Gone with the Wind” on this day in history, June 30, 1936. 

The 1,000-page novel, set in Georgia during the Civil War and in the Reconstruction era, told the tale of Scarlett O’Hara, a southern belle from a wealthy family who lost nearly everything during the war.

The book was a smashing success: It was the bestselling fiction book in the United States in both 1936 and 1937.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, JUNE 29, 2007, THE FIRST IPHONE GOES ON SALE

“Gone with the Wind” won the 1936 National Book Award for “Most Distinguished Novel” as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937, multiple sources note. 

Mitchell, who was born and raised in Atlanta, died a tragic death in 1949 at the age of 48. She was hit by a taxi while crossing the street. 

Actor Clark Gable, who played Rhett Butler in the 1939 film “Gone with the Wind,” reads a copy of the bestselling novel by Margaret Mitchell. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

“Gone with the Wind” was her only published novel during her lifetime. 

Nearly 90 years after its publication, “Gone with the Wind” remains popular in the United States, although it has come under recent controversy. 

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, MAY 3, 1937, MARGARET MITCHELL’S CIVIL WAR SAGA ‘GONE WITH THE WIND’ WINS PULITZER

In 2020, the movie was removed from HBO Max (now called “Max”) in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in 2020. 

WarnerMedia chief Bob Greenblatt said at the time that a disclaimer would be added regarding “racist depictions” throughout the film. 

Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind” was published on June 30, 1936. She is seen here posing with a copy of her novel.  (Photo 12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

A 2022 edition of the book also came with a lengthy warning about the contents — namely, the depiction of slavery and other stereotypes. 

“‘Gone with the Wind’ is a novel which includes problematic elements including the romanticization of a shocking era in our history and the horrors of slavery. The novel includes the representation of unacceptable practices, racist and stereotypical depictions and troubling themes, characterization, language and imagery,” publisher Pan Macmillan wrote. 

UNEARTHED SHOOTING SCRIPT FROM ‘GONE WITH THE WIND’ SHOWS SCENES DEPICTING HORRORS OF SLAVERY

The text of the novel, however, “remains true to the original in every way and is reflective of the language and period in which it was originally written,” said the publisher.

In May 2014, the polling firm Harris found that while the Bible was “America’s favorite book,” the No. 2 choice was “Gone with the Wind” — followed by the much more recent Harry Potter series. 

Novelist Margaret Mitchell published “Gone with the Wind,” her only novel, on this day in history, June 30, 1936. The book went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. (Getty Images)

A second Harris poll, conducted in December 2014, found that “Gone with the Wind” was America’s favorite movie. 

On Dec. 15, 1939, less than 3½ years after the book was published, the film adaptation of “Gone with the Wind” was released in movie theaters. 

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The book won eight Academy Awards at the 1940 Oscars, including Best Picture. 

A second Harris poll, conducted in December 2014, found that “Gone with the Wind” was America’s favorite movie. 

“Gone with the Wind” was the first color picture to win Best Picture, said the Academy’s website. 

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Actress Hattie McDaniel, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy, was the first African American to win an Oscar, notes the Academy. 

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The Academy Awards were presented in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in The Ambassador Hotel, a Whites-only establishment, said The Hollywood Reporter.

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McDaniel was not permitted to sit with the rest of the cast of the movie — and the film’s producer had to request a special favor that she even be allowed to attend the ceremony, noted the publication. 

Christine Rousselle is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.

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Uterine cancer deaths could soon outnumber deaths from ovarian cancer, oncologist says: ‘We need to do better’

The most common type of gynecologic cancer in the U.S. has been on the rise in recent years — and there’s no standard screening for it.

Uterine cancer will affect about 66,200 women in 2023 in the U.S. — and around 13,000 will die from the disease, per the American Cancer Society (ACS).

“While we are seeing a downward trend in overall cancer cases, uterine cancer is one of the few types where we’re seeing an upward trend,” said Dr. Brian Slomovitz, director of gynecologic oncology and co-chair of the Cancer Research Committee at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida, in an interview with Fox News Digital.

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“We’re anticipating that the number of deaths in the United States due to uterine cancer is soon going to outnumber the deaths due to ovarian cancer,” he added.

To help raise awareness, the International Society of Gynecologic Cancer announced the first-ever Uterine Cancer Awareness Month in June.

Dr. Brian Slomovitz is director of gynecologic oncology and co-chair of the Cancer Research Committee at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida. He also serves as chair of the Uterine Cancer Awareness Month initiative. (Mount Sinai Medical Center)

Slomovitz — who also serves as chair of the Uterine Cancer Awareness Month initiative — spoke to Fox News Digital about the state of uterine cancer and what women need to know.

Uterine cancer and endometrial cancer: What’s the difference?

The terms “uterine cancer” and “endometrial cancer” are often used interchangeably, but there is a difference, Slomovitz said.

A vast majority of these types of cancers occur in the outer and inner layers of the uterus, known as the endometrium — hence the term “endometrial cancer.”

About 4% to 5% of the cancers occur in the muscle of the uterus. These are known as uterine sarcomas.

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“Sarcomas are aggressive diseases with a tremendously high death rate,” Slomovitz explained. “But all of them fall in the category of uterine cancers.”

The biggest risk factor of all

Obesity is the biggest risk factor for uterine cancer, Slomovitz said.

“Fat tissue increases the amount of estrogen in the body, and endometrial cancer is a hyper estrogenic,” he explained. “It stimulates the lining of the uterus to the point of uncontrolled proliferation into cancer.”

“There are some game-changing studies coming out, as we try to fill this unmet need to help our patients live longer,” said Dr. Slomovitz, shown here. (Mount Sinai Medical Center)

Overweight women (with a body mass index of 25 to 29.9) have twice the risk of developing uterine cancer as women at a healthy weight, the ACS website states.

Obese women (BMI of 30 or higher) have three times the risk.

Those with diabetes, which is closely related to obesity, are also at a higher risk.

Obesity and age are two of the biggest risk factors for uterine cancer.

A less common risk factor could be polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), which is a hormonal disorder that can lead to enlarged ovaries and the formation of cysts. 

PCOS leads to elevated estrogen levels and lower progesterone levels, which can raise the risk of endometrial cancer, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS) website.

Some hereditary syndromes can make women more susceptible to uterine cancer.

Dr. Slomovitz has worked in the field of gynecologic oncology for over 20 years; he currently serves as director of gynecologic oncology and is co-chair of the Cancer Research Committee at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach.  (Mount Sinai Medical Center)

“One of those is Lynch syndrome, which was often associated with colorectal cancer,” said Slomovitz.

“We know that half the women who develop cancer from Lynch syndrome develop endometrial cancer.”

Age is also a risk factor, as most patients are diagnosed in their 50s and 60s, the doctor said.

“The increase in cases may be due to obesity, but we’re also seeing longer life expectancy,” he noted. “The older people get, the more likely that they are to get endometrial cancer, obviously.”

Symptoms and screening

While other cancers have specific, recommended screenings — such as mammograms for breast cancer and colonoscopies for colorectal cancer — there are no pre-symptomatic screenings for uterine cancers, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Pap smear (Pap test) checks for cervical cancer and precancerous cells in the cervix, but does not screen for uterine cancer.

CERVICAL CANCER: WHAT ARE THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS?

The most common sign or symptom of uterine cancer is abnormal bleeding, Slomovirz said.

“Most uterine cancer patients have postmenopausal bleeding as an early sign or symptom — however, that’s not the case for everyone,” he said.

In premenopausal women, it can be more difficult to determine what constitutes “abnormal” bleeding, the doctor noted. 

Uterine cancer will affect some 66,200 women in the U.S. in 2023 — and around 13,000 women will die from it, per the American Cancer Society. (iStock)

“They shouldn’t just assume it’s changes in their menstrual cycle,” he said. 

In the absence of a formal screening process, Slomovitz stressed the need to recognize symptoms and take quick action.  

“We need to better educate patients to come see their doctors sooner if they have symptoms,” he told Fox News Digital. 

“We need to better educate patients to come see their doctors sooner.”

In addition to bleeding, other symptoms may include pelvic pain or pelvic pressure.

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“We always tell people that if they have symptoms that are worsening or if they persist after 10 to 14 days, they should come in to see their doctor just to make sure everything’s OK,” Slomovitz said.

“We’re still seeing a large number of patients who are diagnosed with advanced and recurrent disease.”

“We need to better educate patients to come see their doctor sooner if they have symptoms,” said Slomovitz. (iStock)

The diagnosis process typically starts with an ultrasound to take images of the uterus, followed by a tissue biopsy — either to diagnose or rule out the disease, said Slomovitz.

In cases of advanced cancer, patients will usually get additional tests — such as chest X-rays, CT scans, MRIs or PET scans — to determine if the disease has spread.

“It traditionally spreads through the lymphatic system, which means lymph nodes can be enlarged,” Slomovitz explained. “It can also spread to the liver or the lungs through the blood system.”

“Eighty percent of women are cured with a hysterectomy.”

In patients who have had endometrial cancer in the past, a gynecologic oncologist will instruct them that for any future symptoms, recurring cancer must be ruled out. 

“They’re cancer patients — so even in the non-specific symptoms, it’s worthy of seeing their oncologist again to make sure it’s not coming back,” Slomovitz said.

Treatment options: ‘An unmet need’

In women who are diagnosed with uterine cancer, one of the first steps is usually a hysterectomy, which is the removal of the uterus.

“Eighty percent of women are cured with a hysterectomy,” Slomovitz said.

To further minimize risk, the doctor said medical professionals will often do lymph node sampling as well to make sure the cancer hasn’t spread.

“But for the additional 20% of patients who have advanced or recurrent disease, systemic therapies are needed,” he said. “We need to do better with treatment options for uterine cancer.”

For these aggressive cases, the systemic therapies have been chemotherapy or hormonal therapy, which uses progesterone to slow down tumor growth.

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This year, Slomovitz said, some breakthrough studies have shown that immunotherapy can be given in the first-line management of the disease.

Immunotherapy treatments work by helping the immune system to slow, stop or destroy cancer cells. It’s shown to be effective for lung cancer, oral cancer and melanoma, the doctor pointed out.

Symptoms of uterine cancer include abnormal bleeding and pelvic pain. (iStock)

At the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in May 2023, researchers presented promising results for a new class of drugs called antibody-drug conjugates (ADCS), a targeted therapy for treating cancer, Slomovitz said.

Health professionals are trying “to fill this unmet need to help our patients live longer.”

Future studies will continue to look at these types of targeted drugs.

“One of my career goals is to use immunotherapy and targeted therapy to eliminate the need for chemotherapy and its associated toxicities and side effects,” Slomovitz said.

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Another “groundbreaking” advancement Slomovitz is particularly excited about is molecular classification, which divides uterine cancers into four different subtypes — thus allowing for more precise, personalized treatment options.

“We’re in a very exciting time,” he said. “There are some game-changing studies that are coming out, as we try to fill this unmet need to help our patients live longer.”

Melissa Rudy is health editor and a member of the lifestyle team at Fox News Digital. 

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Can ChatGPT discuss current events? Chatbot has clear knowledge cutoff date

ChatGPT has been a game changer for artificial intelligence, catapulting earlier this year to the fastest-growing web platform ever as millions of people across the world rushed to communicate with a system that can mimic human conversation.

The system, however, is unable to respond to current events questions due to having a knowledge cutoff date of September 2021.

When Fox News Digital, for example, attempted to ask ChatGPT questions about current events, such as if the Titan submersible implosion could have been prevented or what charges Hunter Biden was hit with this month, the chatbot responded that it does not have knowledge of current events after September 2021.

“As an AI language model, I have a knowledge cutoff date because my training data only goes up until September 2021,” ChatGPT responded when asked why it does not possess language beyond September 2021. “The cutoff date represents the point at which the data used to train me ends, and I do not have access to information or events that have occurred after that time.”

I INTERVIEWED CHATGPT AS IF IT WAS A HUMAN; HERE’S WHAT IT HAD TO SAY THAT GAVE ME CHILLS

ChatGPT logo and AI Artificial Intelligence words are seen in this illustration taken, May 4, 2023. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

The chatbot continued that the motivation behind the cutoff date “is to make it clear to users that I may not be aware of recent developments or up-to-date information.”

“It’s important to keep in mind that any responses I provide about events, news, or technology beyond September 2021 are based on my training and may not reflect the most current information,” the chatbot said.

ChatGPT runs on Generative Pre-training Transformer-4, meaning it’s not connected to the internet and instead only uses the material it was trained on to craft responses to users.

WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF AI?

“ChatGPT is not connected to the internet, and it can occasionally produce incorrect answers. It has limited knowledge of world and events after 2021 and may also occasionally produce harmful instructions or biased content,” OpenAI states on its website. 

In this photo illustration, the ChatGPT logo is seen displayed on a mobile phone screen.

ChatGPT was released in November and quickly grew to 100 million monthly active users by January, setting a record as the fastest-growing user base ever. Its release served as a watershed moment for the tech community, sparking other artificial intelligence labs to hit the turbo button on building comparable or more intelligent programs.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE QUIZ! HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW AI?

An illustration of ChatGPT and Google Bard logos (Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Google, for example, released its version of a chatbot, called Bard, in March. The system did not receive the same acclaim as ChatGPT but stands in stark contrast to ChatGPT on one important aspect: Bard can search the internet to respond to users.

Bard is able to respond to users on current events, such as the unrest in Russia, due to searching the internet via news articles, social media and expert opinions.

WHAT IS GOOGLE BARD? HOW THE AI CHATBOT WORKS, HOW TO USE IT AND WHY IT’S CONTROVERSIAL

“Bard is trained on a massive dataset of news articles, which gives it a broad understanding of current events,” Bard responded when asked how it is able to answer questions on current events, noting the system also draws responses from social media and experts who have publicly spoken out about the topic online.

“When you ask Bard a question about current events, it can search its knowledge base for relevant news articles and provide you with a summary of the information it finds.”

Tech developers are taking the powerful systems a step farther and are working to build AI-integrated search engines. Google, for example, released its experimental Search Generative Experience, or SGE, in May that integrates AI-generated responses into search results.

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“Say you’re looking for removable wallpaper to spruce up your rental,” Google said in its blog post announcing the experimental system, the AI-generated response would include quick facts “like if it’s easy to remove” as well as provide a “list of stylish options, including price, customer ratings and links to purchase.”

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AI now being used to generate child pornography, blackmail teenagers: Digital safety expert

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) programs capable of generating realistic images has led to an explosion in child pornography and blackmail attempts by criminals determined to exploit kids and teenagers.

Yaron Litwin, the CMO and Digital Safety Expert for Canopy, a leading AI solution to combat harmful digital content, told Fox News Digital that pedophiles are leveraging the evolving tools in a variety of ways, often with the intent to produce and distribute images of child sexual exploitation across the internet.

One of these techniques involves editing a genuine photograph of a fully dressed teenager and turning it into a nude image. In one real-world example offered by Litwin, a 15-year-old boy interested in personal fitness joined an online network of gym enthusiasts. One day, he shared a photo including his bare chest following a workout to the group. That image was taken, edited into a nude picture and used to blackmail the teen, who initially thought his photo was harmless and safe in the hands of fellow gym goers.

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Meta filed 27.2 million reports related to child exploitation in 2022, including 21.2 million from Facebook, five million from Instagram and one million from WhatsApp.  (iStock)

In 2022, major social media sites reported a 9% increase in suspected child sexual abuse materials on their platforms. Of those reports, 85% came from Meta digital platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Meta’s head of safety Antigone Davis has previously stated that 98% of dangerous content is removed before anyone reports it to their team and the company reports more child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) than any other service. 

Litwin said the process of editing existing images with AI has become incredibly easy and fast, often leading to horrible experiences for families. That ease of use also transfers to the creation of completely fabricated images of child sexual exploitation, which does not rely on authentic pictures.  

“These are not real kids,” Litwin said. “These are kids that are being generated through AI and as these AI, as the algorithm is receiving more of these images, it can kind of basically improve itself, in a negative way.”

According to a recent analysis, AI-generated images of children engaged in sex acts could potentially disrupt the central tracking system that blocks CSAM from the web. In its current form, the system is only designed to detect known images of abuse rather than generated ones. This new variable could lead law enforcement to spend more time determining whether an image is real or generated by AI.

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Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM) are typically filtered out by AI generators. However, criminals are finding new ways to generate the content.  (Ljubaphoto/Getty)

Litwin said these images also pose unique questions about what violates state and federal child protection and pornography laws. While law enforcement officers and Justice Department officials affirm that such materials are illegal even if the child in question is AI-generated, no such case has been tried in court.

Furthermore, past legal arguments indicate that such content could be a grey area in U.S. law. For example, the Supreme Court shot down several provisions banning virtual child pornography in 2002, arguing that the ruling was too broad and could even encompass and criminalize depictions of teen sexuality in popular literature.

At the time, Chief Justice William H. made an ominous dissent that predicted many of the ethical concerns of the new AI revolution.

“Congress has a compelling interest in ensuring the ability to enforce prohibitions of actual child pornography, and we should defer to its findings that rapidly advancing technology soon will make it all but impossible to do so,” he said.

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A variety of other factors have exacerbated concerns around online child sexual exploitation. While generative AI tools have been massively beneficial in the creation of new photographs, art pieces and illustrated novels, pedophiles are now using special browsers to engage with forums and share step-by-step guides on how to make new illicit materials with ease. These images are then shared or used to cultivate a fake online persona to converse with kids and earn their trust.

Although most AI programs, such as Stable Diffusion, Midjourney and DALL-E have restrictions on what prompts the system will respond to, Litwin said criminals are beginning to leverage open-source algorithms available on the dark web. In some cases, easily accessible AI programs can also be tricked, using specific wording and associations to bypass established guardrails and respond to potentially nefarious prompts.

According to Litwin, because of the large abundance of generated explicit material, these images are challenging to block and filter, making it easier to lure kids and expose them to harmful content.

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In this demonstration, the Canopy AI solution analyzes images on Google and blocks prohibited content in real-time.  (Canopy)

“If I weren’t in this industry, I don’t know, as a parent, if I would be fully aware of where this could go and what could be done,” Litwin added.

However, he noted that while AI can potentially harm children, Canopy was developed, through 14 years of AI algorithm training, to be an example of “AI for good.”

Canopy is a digital parenting app that detects and blocks inappropriate content in milliseconds before it reaches a child’s computer or phone screen.

“As you’re browsing the internet, as you’re looking on social media, if an image were to come up, it would filter it out. Most products out there will just block the entire website. Once it identifies a potential image. We can actually just filter it all so you can still browse,” Litwin said.

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Canopy has the ability to seamlessly remove inappropriate photos from webpages and social media platforms and provides parents with detailed summaries about their child’s internet use.  (Canopy )

The solution uses advanced computing technology, including AI and machine learning, to recognize and filter out inappropriate content on the web and popular social media apps.

In addition to the Smart Filter, which detects and blocks inappropriate images and videos, Canopy provides sexting alerts that can help detect and prevent inappropriate photos from being shared.

“[A child] might think a child their age is on the other end when it really isn’t. And so, we can kind of put that barrier between perhaps a bad decision and letting the parents kind of decide, you know, if they want to allow that or not,” Litwin said.

The solution also includes Removal Prevention, which ensures Canopy can’t be deleted or disabled without the permission of a parent or guardian.

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Nikolas Lanum is an associate editor for Fox News Digital.

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