Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the ability of machines to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as reasoning, learning, decision making, and creativity. AI has been making rapid advances in various fields, such as education, finance, entertainment, and manufacturing. But what about healthcare? How can AI enhance the health and well-being of people?
AI has the potential to transform healthcare in many ways, such as:
- Diagnosing diseases: AI can help detect and diagnose diseases faster and more accurately than humans, by analyzing medical images, lab tests, symptoms, and health records. AI can also provide differential diagnoses and suggest the best treatment options.
- Designing drugs: AI can help accelerate and improve the process of drug discovery and development, by screening millions of molecules, predicting their effects and interactions, and optimizing their synthesis and delivery.
- Monitoring patients: AI can help track and monitor the health status and behavior of patients, by using sensors, wearables, apps, and chatbots. AI can also provide personalized feedback and guidance, as well as alert medical professionals in case of emergencies.
- Assisting surgeries: AI can help perform or assist surgeries, by using robots, augmented reality, or computer vision. AI can also help reduce human errors and complications, and improve the outcomes and recovery of patients.
- Providing personalized treatment: AI can help provide customized and tailored treatment for each patient, based on their genetic makeup, medical history, lifestyle, and preferences. AI can also help predict the response and outcome of the treatment, and adjust it accordingly.
AI is not a threat to replace doctors or human interaction in healthcare. Rather, it is a tool to enhance and complement them. AI can help improve the quality, efficiency, and accessibility of healthcare services. AI can also help address some of the challenges and gaps in the current healthcare system, such as cost, shortage, disparity, and relevance.
AI is already being used in some healthcare applications, such as:
- IBM Watson Health: IBM Watson Health is a platform that uses AI to analyze large amounts of health data and provide insights and solutions for various healthcare domains, such as oncology, genomics, imaging, drug discovery, and population health.
- DeepMind Health: DeepMind Health is a division of Google’s DeepMind that uses AI to improve healthcare research and practice. Some of its projects include AlphaFold, which predicts the 3D structure of proteins; Streams, which alerts doctors about patients at risk of acute kidney injury; and Moorfields Eye Hospital partnership, which detects eye diseases from retinal scans.
- Babylon Health: Babylon Health is a company that provides digital health services through its app. It uses AI to offer symptom checker, health assessment, triage, diagnosis,