In the last year, we have seen transformation of healthcare
in ways we might not have expected, and is now more accessible, driven by
technology and focused on prevention. As
part of the Women of Wearables
conference, I attended a panel discussion on how artificial intelligence
(AI) can transform healthcare. The pandemic has been a catalyst for change
in adoption of AI and adoption of digital technology. The panel
discussed the challenges and benefits of using AI within their respective
sectors.
It might be thought that regulations may be the biggest
barrier to innovation within healthcare, but, Rebecca Wray, Associate Director
in Digital Health Oncology at Astra
Zeneca said it is the quality of data, and access to it. Access to large-scale,
quality data is hugely expensive, and can be a major barrier. Hadeel Ayoub,
founder of start-up BrightSign
explained how this impacted her, and it meant she chose to collect her own data.
New solutions requiring new data, existing data being held
inconsistently and lack of access to data due to privacy concerns pose further
challenges for AI in healthcare. The panel also discussed the
problems in research and development of AI, especially regarding inbuilt
biases that may emerge. Melissa Berthelot, CEO of WarnerPatch explained that all data
will be biased to some extent, and is recognised when ethical approval is
sought.
One of my investments, Owkin, transforms data into knowledge, and combats some of these challenges. Owkin recognised that researchers, doctors and biologists benefit from available data, however, being able to extract insights becomes more challenging. Owkin’s solution is to build collective intelligence from distributed data at scale, which can provide personalised treatments for everyone without impacting on privacy.
Currently, we cannot expect AI to replace human
intuitive aspects, as algorithms cannot assess the context of a patient’s life,
but it can be employed in certain situations to alleviate pressure on doctors.
As an investor in this space, I am excited to see how AI continues to
contribute to innovation within healthcare, ultimately developing faster
and more effective treatments for patients.
