Last week, the UK Government announced it will be launching the AI Life Sciences Accelerator Mission. Approximately £100 million will be allocated to help drive AI innovation and tackle the UK’s biggest healthcare challenges. The Life Sciences Vision encompasses eight critical healthcare missions that government, industry, the NHS, academia, and medical research charities will work together on at speed to solve – from cancer treatment to tackling dementia.
Ayesha Iqbal, IEEE senior member and engineering trainer at the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre comments:
“The emergence of AI within the health sector has completely reshaped the way health professionals diagnose, treat, and monitor patients. More recent examples include its ability to find new links between genetic codes, perform robot-assisted surgeries, improve medical imaging methods, and automate administrative tasks. Not only does AI have the ability to predict and track the spread of infectious diseases, but it can also help to combat epidemics and pandemics, as well as speed up the drug research and clinical trial process.
“AI enables more personalised treatment options than ever before, as well as accurate diagnoses and treatment plans, which enhances preventive care and overall quality of life. Improving efficiency in this way is revolutionary, and further advancements will continue to transform the way the health sector operates on a global scale. There is no denying that the large-scale adoption of AI in the health sector will require time and effort. However, it still has a lot to offer in the field of healthcare and medicine.
“Going forward, it is crucial to establish ethical guidelines and standards, ensure data privacy and security, offer trialability, and educate patients. Developing trust during the widespread adoption of AI in healthcare is essential. As AI innovation within healthcare continues at pace, there will be even more opportunities for patient treatment and end of life care. Indeed, it is an exciting time for the industry, and it will be interesting to see the development of AI-embedded tools and systems in the coming years.”
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