Numerous companies in the healthcare space are experimenting with artificial intelligence, but what does the future hold in this sphere? Grace Caffyn explores.
You’ll probably know IBM’s supercomputer, Watson, from its 2011 appearance on Jeopardy. Up against two of the US quiz show’s longest-running and highest-earning contestants, Watson clinched a $1m prize after answering a series of quick-fire general knowledge questions. It wasn’t a close call either – at the final score, Watson’s total was $31,547 ahead of its rivals’ combined. But in the five years since, IBM’s supercomputer has been working towards another goal, one far more lucrative than the Jeopardy! jackpot: upgrading healthcare.
Roughly every three years, the amount of medical data on the planet doubles in size. By 2020, it is expected to double every 73 days. But you’d be wrong in thinking this exponential growth is being matched by progress in the field. Our vast pool of expertise – research, clinical trials, medical records – is a mess. It’s siloed, it’s unstructured and, crucially, it’s polyglottic....