[Image of an AI algorithm, Credits to Pexels]

Recently, as several AI-based start-ups have jumped into the medical and pharmaceutical field, experts insist that they could perform a crucial role in healthcare development.

AI Start-ups from various regions, such as Recursion from Silicon Valley or Insilico from Hong Kong and New York, have started investing heavily to compete with each other to take a privilege in the medical and biochemical sectors.

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is defined as a technology that makes computers simulate human intelligence and problem solving skills.

AI not only offers a wide range of information, but also is capable of having human-like conversations with users.

One of AI’s strengths is it’s ability to provide effective and creative solutions using the information it contains in its giant database.

The database is continually updated as the AI receives new information, just like a human’s brain, and thus possessing unlimited potential to be effectively used in future occupations.

This revolutionary technology is already slowly permeating into our daily lives, such as analyzing financial statistics, commerce, or even for educational purposes.

However, many foresee AI potentially exerting greater influence on the medical field in the near future, perhaps even more than its influence on other occupational areas.

For instance, predictions based on AI could greatly reduce unnecessary experiments of medications, especially animal testing, which is criticized for its unethical procedures.

According to Recursion, one of the start-up companies, they have recently developed a technology capable of conducting over 2 million medical experiments every week with AI.

Another effective way an AI could contribute in the medical field is by detecting problems in patients.

Even the most skilled professional doctors tend to make a few mistakes throughout their career, such as not discovering early symptoms of a fatal disease.

In such cases, AI could assist doctors by analyzing the patient and tracking down the disease quickly and more accurately.

Moreover, AI could also provide effective solutions, once a disease is found.

The algorithm enables computers to predict various outcomes when a patient with a disease receives a certain prescription.

Based on this data, AI could offer the best possible solution for the patient.

Researchers assert that over 800,000 Americans suffer from poor medical prescriptions every year, but AI has potential to significantly lower this number.

Apart from scientific methods, AI could also more directly assist patients, such as tracking their healthcare routine, or alerting the doctor if there is an emergency, such as a rapid increase of the patient’s heartbeat.

Conversely, drawbacks on the use of AI also exist.

The assistance of all these medical computers and robots could lead to a significant decrease of job opportunities in medical fields, such as nurses.

Experts predict that as AI technology develops, there will be a reduction of almost 10 million health-care workers by 2030.

Furthermore, since the algorithm is based on accumulated data around the world, it is possible that the privacy of many patients’ medical data could be violated.

These limitations present additional quests for industries and experts to address.

Nevertheless, the technological innovations from AI start-ups represent an interesting project that has the potential to greatly develop the future of healthcare.