Can Autism be Catered with Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Intervention Technology? A Literature Review

This article presents an extensive literature review of technology based intervention methodologies for individuals facing Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Reviewed methodologies include: contemporary Computer Aided Systems (CAS), Computer Vision Assisted Technologies (CVAT) and Virtual Reality (VR) or Artificial Intelligence-Assisted interventions. The research over the past decade has provided enough demonstrations that individuals of ASD have a strong interest in technology based interventions and can connect with them for longer durations without facing any trouble(s). Theses technology based interventions are useful for individuals facing autism in clinical settings as well as at home and classrooms. Despite showing great promise, research in developing an advanced technology based intervention that is clinically quantitative for ASD is minimal. Moreover, the clinicians are generally not convinced about the potential of the technology based interventions due to non-empirical nature of published results. A major reason behind this non-acceptability is a vast majority of studies on distinct intervention methodologies do not follow any specific standard or research design. Consequently, the data produced by these studies is minimally appealing to the clinical community. This research domain has a vast social impact as per official statistics given by the Autism Society of America, autism is the fastest growing developmental disability in the United States (US). The estimated annual cost in the US for diagnosis and treatment for ASD is 236-262 Billion US Dollars. The cost of up-bringing an ASD individual is estimated to be 1.4 million USD while statistics show 1% of the worlds' total population is suffering from ASD.