10.2 AI in Healthcare
AI helps doctors spot diseases in scans, speeds up drug discovery, and takes on paperwork - but doctors stay in charge.
Chapter 10: Practical Applications of AI
Medical imaging is a big one: AI helps flag possible issues in X-rays, eye scans and mammograms. In 2018 the US FDA authorised IDx-DR, an AI system that can detect diabetic eye disease without a specialist reading the image.
Drug discovery: AlphaFold's protein predictions help researchers understand diseases, and AI helps screen millions of molecules for new medicines. AI is also used for transcribing appointments and summarising patient notes.
Important: AI supports medical decisions - it doesn't replace doctors. And never use a chatbot as a substitute for real medical advice.
Key takeaways
AI assists with scans, drug discovery, paperwork
Doctors make the final call
Chatbots aren't a substitute for medical advice