X, the Alphabet subsidiary trying to use artificial intelligence to discover a biomarker for depression and anxiety in brainwave data, reported this week that its initiative had failed to home in on a single indicator that could make measuring mental health as simple as reading a glucose meter.
Given the mystery that still shrouds the human brain, this was probably a predictable outcome for the initiative, dubbed Project Amber. But it stands as another reminder that machine learning is not magic pixie dust that can solve every problem in medicine.
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