Finding the cure for future healthcare
Last time I used this space to talk about what a dramatic effect artificial intelligence was having on society and jobs — and so this time I thought it would be timely to delve a little deeper into one of the sectors which experts tell me is likely to benefit most: healthcare.
As I did my research, I realized that there were some healthcare firms like Medix, a Londonbased global provider of healthcare management solutions, that had already reaped the AI advantages.
Run by Belgium-born Sigal Atzmon, its founder and global CEO, Medix has become a leading medical organization in its own right since it was launched just over a decade ago.
What sets Medix apart from the rest is that it is a global medical advice specialist — a kind of global doctor’s practice, if you like. It is significantly expanding its personal medical case management services to Asia, including China, Singapore and Malaysia, using Hong Kong as a gateway.
Atzmon explained that the moment we are told we have a serious medical condition we enter into a coping mode. Rightly so, as we are often forced to make a myriad of uninformed yet critical decisions, riddled with endless doubt and countless uncertainties. That’s where companies like Medix are looking to come in, she says.
She said she firmly believes that China will be at the forefront of the next global healthcare revolution, because contrary to companies in the United States, Canada and Britain, “it is not burdened by what she calls a ‘healthcare legacy infrastructure’”.
Yes, many parts of rural China suffer worse medical conditions than the major cities, but she says the country has the advantage of effectively building its leading medical facilities from scratch, designing what could arguably soon become the most modern medical system in the world.
The government has a mandate to provide quality medical care for everyone, but the huge population cannot be served by traditional means due to a lack of infrastructure, shortage of medical staff and cost. The solution in future will be AI-driven and China has what is needed in spades, she says, because it has a huge amount of data that is all in one language, expertise and resources.
“The private sector has already made a good start in this regard,” Atzmon said, with the country’s largest internet giants, including Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent along with hundreds of startups already at the cutting edge of technologies, such as voice and image recognition.
And contrary to predictions that AI will replace human jobs, the impact is likely to be negligible in China’s healthcare industry, she added, as there’s already a local shortage of doctors and nurses, as there is globally in fact.
AI will provide significant strides, she said, to specific applications such as radiology and pathology and help doctors reach the right diagnosis faster.
“Over the next two decades AI will radically change the Chinese healthcare landscape and thanks to China’s ability to accelerate this progress, it will become the world’s AI leader in the sector, spending an expected $130 billion by 2025,” she said.
And so countries of all sizes should be encouraged to look closely at their own needs, and how AI can help with solutions.