"Where do I think the next amazing revolution is going to come? There's no question that digital biology is going to be it. For the very first time in human history, biology has the opportunity to become engineering, not science." - Jensen Huang, CEO, Nvidia
It's one of the oldest tropes in science fiction: rogue artificial intelligence (AI) destroying humanity. Yet the other side of the coin -- stories of benevolent AI systems that save or improve human lives -- garner far less attention.
And it's not just in fiction. News outlets often eagerly cover corporate leaders who make statements or sign letters asking for government regulation of AI systems on the grounds of safety. On the other hand, AI's enormous healthcare potential often goes unrecognized.
So, let's correct that now by diving into whether 2024 will be the year AI dominates the healthcare industry.
Image source: Getty Images.
How AI could revolutionize healthcare
My father-in-law is an epidemiologist. "The most amazing thing," he's told me, "is how the human immune system works all day, every day, your whole life...and it almost never fails."
It is, when you think about it, truly amazing. The human body constantly interacts with microscopic objects, from toxic substances to deadly pathogens. And by and large, most of us never even know we've been exposed to any of it.
Moreover, our immune system is just one network that keeps our bodies happy and healthy. Other systems include the cardiovascular, digestive, nervous, and skeletal, to name but a few.
If any of these systems fail due to trauma or disease, we suffer. Human biology is incredibly interconnected and complex. While medical science has made incredible progress in recent years, many conditions remain challenging, if not impossible, to treat.
That's where AI comes in. AI is poised to deliver medical breakthroughs due to its ability to study far more information than any human could examine through its superior pattern recognition abilities. In fact, it's already happening.
An experimental AI-developed drug to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (an incurable lung disease) is currently in mid-stage trials in the U.S. Indeed, AI is now being put to work by narrowing down chemical compounds that could be used as the building block for drug profiles.
What's more, drug development is only one facet of medicine that AI can improve. Companies like Palantir Technologies (PLTR 4.85%), a pioneer in AI-led data analytics, are already working with major healthcare networks to provide improved, more timely, and cheaper patient care.
The future of AI healthcare
In short, AI will change the way healthcare works. But, like much else, there's no way to know exactly how. In response, smart investors will look for the companies that stand the best chance to benefit from the AI revolution: Think Nvidia (NVDA 4.14%), AMD (AMD 7.44%), and Palantir.
Nvidia and AMD will be important because they are the companies that make the best AI chips -- the "brains" that power the supercomputers that run the latest and greatest AI applications.
Palantir is essential because it is a company on the cutting edge of big data analytics -- the complex process of examining trillions of pieces of data and, from that, generating meaningful conclusions.
To sum up, 2024 may or may not be the year that AI dominates healthcare. Yet, one thing is certain: AI will have a future role to play in the sector; the only question is how big it will be.
