Artificial intelligence has made its way into various industries, and its expanding list of applications is improving the way we do things more than anything else. True enough, AI is revolutionizing fields such as retail, finance and the auto industry, but one area where it is truly making its mark is healthcare.
Countless firms are using the benefits of AI to further improve the state of healthcare and yet, many are unaware of just how well the technology is improving medicine. That being said, we’re going to go through some ways AI is paving the way for better healthcare, thus helping us live healthier lives.
Diagnosis
Thanks to AI and Big Data, diagnoses can come at a faster and more accurate rate. IBM’s Watson for Health, for instance, is helping out healthcare firms use cognitive technology to store massive amounts of health data and diagnosis results. While it may seem impossible, AI is now more capable of reviewing and storing medical information better than humans.
Kang Zhang and his colleagues at the University of California in San Diego made a major breakthrough in AI diagnosis. They trained software to go through medical records from 1.3 million patients at a medical center in Guangzhou, China.
With cognitive learning done, Zhang and his team created software that can diagnose childhood illnesses better than any doctor. To be more precise, it had 90%-97% accuracy in diagnosing diseases such as glandular fever, roseola, influenza, chicken pox, and more.
Furthermore, the technology is already being used to detect diseases in their early stages, thus making the management of it a lot easier. Diseases such as cancer can be quickly discovered with the help of AI, and since it is easier to cure during the early stages, it will help in the fight against one of the deadliest diseases in the world.
Treatment
AI can do more than just read and analyze data. With the help of AI, physicians and all other medical experts can take a better and more comprehensive approach to treat patients. While AI technology is far from curing diseases in an instant, we can at least rely on it to help us go through prolonged treatment plans.
Using the data it acquires from machine learning and the firms that supplement it, AI is able to create personalized treatment plans in which the patients would respond better to. As AI in treatment continues to develop, we’ll be less reliant on trial and errors phases because we’d have the right treatment ahead of us immediately.
Who knows? There might even come a time when AI will be capable of complex surgeries.
Training
AI will provide a better means of training for future medical practitioners using the data it has stored over the years. What’s great about this training under AI is that the technology can help simulate training situations that will teach the individuals the proper course of action in certain cases.
Since AI is automated and is powered by machine learning, the training could be more dynamic, thus creating a roster of better trained medical professionals. AI will be able to take note of trainees’ actions during a session. It can then use this data to change up the simulated disease so that the trainee is able to face new challenges.
To make training more accessible, students and trainees can use AI-powered apps on smartphones. That means that they can train on the go and they could easily have access to training manuals if needed.
End Of Life Care
Thanks to the current state of healthcare, we can live longer than the past generations did. The average lifespan of humans is well over 80s. While our lifespan has increased substantially, that isn’t to say that there aren’t any challenges well into our golden years.
However, thanks to AI, we can live more comfortably as we grow older. This is great news especially for those who are susceptible to chronic diseases.
AI and robots have the capacity to change the problems we face with old age. What it holds most potential in is that it can help people remain independent for longer periods. There might even come a time when we might no longer need retirement homes as AI will provide the care we need at our houses already.
Self-Care
Nothing can replace the care and advice that a doctor can give, but that doesn’t mean self-care isn’t necessary. The combination of app and AI has made that task more possible and now, we can monitor our well-being right at the comfort of our homes and in the palm of our hands.
These apps are integrated with the databases of medical centers and professionals as well. That way, we are able to streamline the care we receive at home and the professional care we receive at clinics and hospitals.
AI’s benefits for self-care begins at our daily routine and exercise. There are already some AI-powered apps that can guide our diet and exercise plans. By combining our usual routines with AI and machine learning, we’ll be able to streamline our lifestyles even further.
What’s Next?
The truth of the matter is, there’s no telling what’s next for AI in healthcare. What we are certain of is there is a ton of potential in the technology, upending medicine even further. At the rate it is going, it should not be surprising that one day, we’ll be able to fight through even the toughest viruses and diseases.
For AI engineers and medical experts, the next frontier is simple: improve what’s currently available. Although what we have now is great, professionals are still striving for effectivity and most importantly, the affordability of AI in healthcare.
These amazing developments in healthcare and AI will change lives all over the world. Admittedly, there are early challenges such as adoption and the cost of the technology. However, if AI continues to garner the support that it is getting today, it will be more accessible and affordable to integrate into hospitals and clinics worldwide.
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