Evidence pyramid and artificial intelligence: a metamorphosis of clinical research

Abstract

AbstractWe are in the era of disruption. New technologies are all around us and they change our professional and non-professional life very quickly. Evidence-based medicine is changing accordingly. We propose a new version of the evidence pyramid that evolves through the changes of our novel perspective. New technologies are manipulating the pyramid, revealing us unexpected dimensions, and shaping it into a more complex form. From a traditional two-dimensional pyramid, we move on to a three-dimensional one, where the third dimension is represented by the research efforts to go up to the next step. Legal, ethical, educational and cost-effectiveness issues are some of the major current barriers to manage and remove from accessing a secure and daily routine use of these intelligent tools. An additional element, represented by the volume of the step, highlighting the impact in clinical practice of each level of the pyramid, is added creating the fourth new version of evidence pyramid.