Artificial Intelligence has become a buzzword in the past few years. Computers, or robots, that can perform the same tasks as a human. Seems kind of strange and outlandish right? While it’s certainly something that seems very sci-fi, AI is much more of a reality than most people realize. AI is currently in goods and services being used by humans every day, from the chat tool you see on many websites to robots that manufacture various goods in factories across the world. One place many individuals do not expect AI to be is in healthcare. In the rest of this post we will explore where AI is making waves in healthcare and how it will affect the industry overall.

Where is AI in the healthcare industry? Well, the answer is not so simple. In fact, a better question may be where is AI not in the healthcare industry? Artificial Intelligence is being used across the entire healthcare industry, in areas such as early detection, research, training and end of life care. Lets go a little deeper into exactly where artificial intelligence is helping people stay healthy.

Keeping Well

            There are now apps that anyone can download for free that will give a patient medical advice to help avoid an unnecessary visit to the doctor’s office. This helps patients save money and take control of their health. Data from artificial intelligence apps can also help healthcare professionals get a better idea of what type of care patients need day to day.

Early Detection

            AI is being used to help detect cancer and other diseases early, potentially saving lives. Using artificial intelligence is making reading results faster and more accurate, taking away possible errors.

Decision Making

            Artificial intelligence can predict diseases that individuals might develop, helping doctors make decisions on treatment before any disease even happens. This area of AI is very new but is expected to make strides in coming years.

Training

            AI allows training to be more intuitive and closer to real life. This is because artificial intelligence can react in ways that a normal computer algorithm cannot. AI also allows training to happen anywhere because it can be used on any device.

End of Life Care

            Robotics has the potential to help older patients live on their own for longer periods of time. Artificial intelligence would allow these robots to adapt their care for older citizens and also converse with them. The ability to converse would give lonely seniors a social presence in what could be a lonely life.

These are just a few examples of how artificial intelligence is affecting the healthcare industry today. This technology is extremely promising and will continue to have a positive impact on people’s health in the future.