AutocleanEEG ICVision: Automated ICA Artifact Classification Using Vision-Language AI

Abstract: We introduce EEG Autoclean Vision Language AI (ICVision) a first-of-its-kind system that emulates expert-level EEG ICA component classification through AI-agent vision and natural language reasoning. Unlike conventional classifiers such as ICLabel, which rely on handcrafted features, ICVision directly interprets ICA dashboard visualizations topography, time series, power spectra, and ERP plots, using a multimodal LLM (GPT-4 Vision). This allows the AI to see and explain EEG components the way trained neurologists do, making it the first scientific implementation of AI-agent visual cognition in neurophysiology. ICVision classifies each component into one of six canonical categories (brain, eye, heart, muscle, channel noise, and other noise), returning both a confidence score and a human-like explanation. Evaluated on 3,168 ICA components from 124 EEG datasets, ICVision achieved k = 0.677 agreement with expert consensus, surpassing MNE ICLabel, while also preserving clinically relevant brain signals in ambiguous cases. Over 97% of its outputs were rated as interpretable and actionable by expert reviewers. As a core module of the open-source EEG Autoclean platform, ICVision signals a paradigm shift in scientific AI, where models do not just classify, but see, reason, and communicate. It opens the door to globally scalable, explainable, and reproducible EEG workflows, marking the emergence of AI agents capable of expert-level visual decision-making in brain science and beyond.