AI Tool Use Linked with Understanding of Skincare Issues, With Rory Sayres, PhD, and Yun Liu, PhD

Significant disparities related to dermatological care access have been identified in the field of dermatology, with only 28% of skin conditions reported by patients being assessed through a dermatologist.1

In a new interview with HCPLive, a pair of investigators named Rory Sayres, MD, and Yun Liu, PhD, discussed the key findings authored in their recent JAMA study regarding ways in which artificial intelligence (AI) tools may be impacting consumers’ understanding of skin health. While the study found certain gaps remain, the AI applications assessed were linked with increased accuracy and confidence in terms of consumer understanding.2

“I think one of the key goals we're trying to understand with this study is how use of these at home tools affects decision making and affects the quality of information people get,” Sayres explained.

In this segment of their interview, Sayres spoke on how his team’s primary aim was to evaluate how at-home, AI-powered applications can impact both decision-making and the quality of health information attained by consumers. With many already turning to online platforms for questions on their own dermatologic concerns, Sayres, Liu, and colleagues had set out to better understand how these tools compare with traditional information-seeking methods, as well as how users interpret and act on the data given to them.

The team specifically looked at the ways in which assessments by lay individuals served them, with retrospective dermatology cases and images with limited clinical context being used. These images would thus mirror real-world scenarios in which individuals might implement smartphone-based tools to assess their various skin health concerns.

The investigators focused on 2 key outcomes: participants’ ability to correctly identify a skin condition and their understanding of appropriate steps for the conditions’ management. Compared with a control arm using standard resources such as web searches, those in the study who utilized AI-supported tools were significantly more likely to both attempt and correctly name the condition depicted.

Investigators also included a “Wizard of Oz” group, the participants of which were shown dermatologist-generated differential diagnoses presented in the same format as the AI tool. This allowed for isolation of the impact of prediction accuracy on user performance. Notably, improvements in recognition of different skin conditions were seen in both the AI and dermatologist-guided arms, with the highest accuracy seen when participants were provided with expert-level predictions.

However, the results revealed a more nuanced picture when it came to clinical decision-making. While participants improved in their identification of conditions, this did not consistently translate into better judgment regarding next steps, such as whether to seek medical care or manage the issue independently.

Only the dermatologist-guided arm demonstrated a significant improvement in next-step accuracy. This finding, Sayres suggested, indicates the necessity of higher-quality or more precise predictions to impact patient decision-making in a meaningful way. Together, their data highlight both the promise and current limitations of AI in dermatology.’

For any additional information on these findings, view the video segment posted above.

The quotes contained in this summary were edited for the purposes of clarity.

Disclosures: Sayres and Liu reported stock ownership from Google outside the submitted work.

References

1. GBD 2017 Disease and Injury Incidence and Prevalence Collaborators. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet. 2018 Nov 10;392(10159):1789-1858. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32279-7. Epub 2018 Nov 8. Erratum in: Lancet. 2019 Jun 22;393(10190):e44. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31047-5. PMID: 30496104; PMCID: PMC6227754.

2. Sayres R, Jain A, Liu Y, et al. Consumer Understanding of Skin Concerns With an AI-Powered Informational Tool. JAMA Dermatol. 2026 Apr 15:e260597. doi: 10.1001/jamadermatol.2026.0597. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41984449; PMCID: PMC13084546.