SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
'Smart Toilet' Uses Artificial Intelligence to Monitor Bowel Health:
DURHAM, N.C. -- An artificial intelligence tool being developed by Duke scientists can be added to the standard toilet to help analyze patients' stool and give gastroenterologists the information they need to provide appropriate treatment for chronic issues such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
The work is being done by Duke University's Center for Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Infectious Disease (WaSH-AID), and was presented Saturday at the virtual conference Digestive Disease Week 2021.
"Typically, gastroenterologists have to rely on patient self-reported information about their stool to help determine the cause of their gastrointestinal health issues, which can be very unreliable," said Deborah Fisher, MD, associate professor of medicine at Duke University and one of the lead authors on the study.
[...] The prototype has promising feasibility, but it is not yet available to the public. Researchers are developing additional features of the technology to include stool specimen sampling for biochemical marker analysis that will provide highly specific disease data to meet the needs of patients and gastroenterologists.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday June 07 2021, @02:12AM (9 children)
We run the risk of toilets being smarter than the people using them. The Mexicans already make fun of us for having smart phones and dumb people. How can we possibly survive this next generation of jokes about dumb Americans?
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday June 07 2021, @02:50AM (2 children)
We'll just have to counter those jokes with our own (or purchased) AI [youtu.be].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @03:08AM
Alexa ...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @03:14AM
Clippy: I see you have hemorrhoids, would you like me to help with those?
(Score: 5, Touché) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Monday June 07 2021, @03:37AM (1 child)
Current toilets already are.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday June 07 2021, @03:51AM
Touché, Rosco. Touché.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @04:08AM (1 child)
We could kill them all.
oh... we're not brainstorming? I thought we were brainstorming -- you know, when you throw out for discussion any idea that pops into your head, no matter how silly, or how morally ambiguous, or how against the Geneva Convention.
My bad; won't happen again.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @11:51AM
No, you did't. You're not funny, you're not amusing, you're not cute. You are a brain damaged fool who creates noise, making it more difficult to enjoy the signal. Please stop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqdPaV6XaWo [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by Tork on Monday June 07 2021, @04:13PM
Um... achieving sentience might be a step in the right direction.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday June 07 2021, @06:30PM
I think most Americans just don't give a . . . uh . . . darn.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @02:13AM (1 child)
I also want nothing less than full spectral analysis.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @02:18AM
Hanako-san?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by looorg on Monday June 07 2021, @02:28AM (3 children)
So in the future you won't even be able to crap in peace without the toilet snitching on you to Google or whomever. Im sure we like to think it will be for medical benefits but I would think it more realistic if it becomes another ad revenue stream. Softners, more bran, medications, laxatives or whatever other conditions they can test for. Your health benefits are secondary, at best, to the advertisers.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday June 07 2021, @02:46AM
They can probably do it now, if Google decided to put in "fiber" (and other) sensors [popsci.com] along with their Fiber deployments.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @02:46AM
Came here to say the same thing. I'm not in any hurry to send my shit (or an analysis thereof) to the cloud.
But, I know one chronic sufferer of near-continual diarrhea, so far un-treatable after many many attempts at diagnosis (including a visit to Mayo Clinic). They might be the poster child for a device like this (and they are young enough that sending data to the cloud doesn't bother them at all).
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @08:49AM
Welcome to The Island
Enjoy your stay.
We hope you win the lottery.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Monday June 07 2021, @03:35AM
We've been shitting on their products for years, and they saw a business opportunity in making it a literal thing.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @04:28AM
(A bit long but worth the watch to the end)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJklHwoYgBQ [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @07:39AM
So what if my toilet tells me I need to trim my hair, or get a bleaching. Then I do it and before you know it I'm visiting bath houses and letting strange men put themselves inside me. Who's fault is that than?
(Score: 2) by Frosty Piss on Monday June 07 2021, @07:50AM (1 child)
That a toilet - or whatever - is designed to test your shit and piss and tell you about it *IS probably NOT* “artificial intelligence”. Just because some engineers got together and developed some testing algorithms, this is *NOT* “artificial intelligence”. The term is wildly misused.
(Score: 4, Funny) by maxwell demon on Monday June 07 2021, @10:32AM
Wait, next you'll tell me that my hello world program isn't artificial intelligence either. I mean, it communicates with you in natural language! Granted, the communication is one-sided and rather limited, but hey, natural language communication surely qualifies as artificial intelligence, doesn't it? :-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @08:52AM (3 children)
I use bleach. Can this technology survive daily use?
(Score: 2) by pkrasimirov on Monday June 07 2021, @02:23PM
This is how you keep it virus-free.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @04:09PM
Anal bleach? You should be good to go, as long as you don't overdo it.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday June 07 2021, @06:30PM
Are you suggesting that this has to be cleaned, unlike all other toilets?
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday June 07 2021, @01:48PM (2 children)
It could possibly be great for use in a hospital. What it's more likely to be used for is people's weird fetishes and/or insurance. When I say insurance, it sure isn't going to be for the end-users' benefit.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by pkrasimirov on Monday June 07 2021, @02:25PM (1 child)
"Please enter your username." Frantically clicking... "Unknown user or access code, please try again." "Come on, I really need to go now!" "Unknown username."
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Tuesday June 08 2021, @08:29AM
You mean the toilet doesn't have biometric identification of your butt?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by Oakenshield on Monday June 07 2021, @02:55PM
Finally a toilet that knows its shit. Will it also be able to diagnose Zachary's Disease? The one where your face look zachary like your ass?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 07 2021, @08:15PM
Loogle will track you around public toilets.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday June 08 2021, @02:22AM
You think it can tell the difference? I mean, if it's so smart and everything
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2, Funny) by jjr on Tuesday June 08 2021, @12:29PM
"Hi, it seems you didn't take a dump in the last 40 hours.
Would you like me to:
- Order a laxative?
- Order more fibre-rich food?
(get a 2% discount on Amazon with any of these options!)
- Call your doctor?
- Execute the goatse maneouver?"