As recent FT analysis highlights, corporate America may be waxing lyrical about the promise of artificial intelligence but few boardrooms appear able to describe how the technology is actually changing their businesses for the better. There is, however, one sector where the gains are clear, even if it is less eye-catching to profit-chasing investors: public health. For an industry with intensely high demands on accuracy and efficiency, generative AI could transform healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. In turn, the potential benefits for society, the economy and stretched public budgets are immense.
The greatest payback from AI may well come from the earlier and more accurate detection of life-threatening illnesses. In June, Microsoft claimed it had built a diagnostic medical tool that was four times more successful than doctors at determining complex ailments. Some models may even be powerful enough to ascertain distant health risks. Last month, scientists using the gen-AI system Delphi-2M, which was built at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Cambridge and trained on large-scale health records, reported that it could predict susceptibility to more than 1,000 diseases decades into the future.
But AI’s impact extends well beyond preventive support. In hospitals, the technology can rapidly analyse X-rays, CAT scans and MRIs. Robotic surgery systems powered by AI can improve surgical precision. Labs are harnessing large language models to accelerate drug discovery too. Crucially, all these applications complement health professionals and free them to provide better care to more patients.