Pap smear & AI: the new era of cervical screening

By Ana Espino | Published on February 26, 2026 | 3 min read


Cervical cancer remains one of the few largely preventable cancers thanks to organized screening programs combining cervical cytology and HPV testing. Yet, despite these established strategies, diagnoses at advanced stages still occur. Conventional cytology, the historical cornerstone of screening, has intrinsic limitations. Its interpretation relies on expert human morphological analysis, subject to inter- and intra-observer variability. Low-grade lesions, subtle atypia, and paucicellular samples represent diagnostic weak points. As screening programs expand, the growing volume of samples increases the risk of analytical fatigue and triage errors.