He lost half his vision to glaucoma. Now he’s using AI to help spot disease — but he says tech will never replace doctors.

It’s a progressive eye disease that damages the optic nerve, often without symptoms until it’s too late. By the time doctors caught it, Choi had lost half his vision.

An engineer by training — and a former rifleman in South Korea’s Marine Corps — Choi thought he had a solid handle on his health.

“I was really frustrated I didn’t notice that,” he said.

The 2016 diagnosis still gives him “panic.” But it also sparked something big.

That year, Choi teamed up with his doctor, a vitreoretinal surgeon, to cofound Mediwhale, a South Korea-based healthtech startup.

Their mission is to use AI to catch diseases before symptoms show up and cause irreversible harm.

“I’m the person who feels the value of that the most,” Choi said.

The tech can screen for cardiovascular, kidney, and eye diseases through non-invasive retinal scans.