AI WILL ONLY TAKE US SO FAR
Johnson & Johnson science officer:
While high-tech artificial intelligence will help pharmaceutical companies develop drugs that can defeat cancer, humans will still need to make the crucial decisions, Johnson & Johnson’s top scientist told attendees at the world’s premier biotech conference, now underway in Boston.
Paul Stoffels, Johnson & Johnson’s chief scientific officer, said companies are making use of machine learning, where computers can make adjustments and recommendations based on the enormous amounts of data they read, in order to develop drugs and treatment plans. But the computers shouldn’t be calling all the shots, he said yesterday at the 25th annual BIO International Convention, which is hosting 1,800 exhibitors and 16,000 attendees
‘Decision-making will stay with humans.’
— PAUL STOFFELS, right, Johnson & Johnson chief scientific officer
at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.
“I’m a believer in it ... the use of information and artificial intelligence, absolutely, but decisionmaking will stay with humans,” Stofells said. “The prioritization of what you learn and what are the different options and priority options, I think artificial intelligence can come to help a lot but as an old guy I would put people front and center to make decisions.”
“Especially for a few hundred million dollar decision, I wouldn’t trust a machine yet,” Stoffels joked.
Stoffels also predicted more collaboration between pharmaceutical companies as they try to make better use of more easily accessible medical records and lower the cost of clinical trials.
“We need as an industry to make development cheaper. Today’s clinical trials are very expensive,” Stoffels said. “It doesn’t make sense for every company to develop platforms on their own, economies will drive us to work together on platforms to simply how we work on trials.”
And he predicted that many cancers will be curable in five years, with treatment continuing to be personalized for individual patients. He encouraged conference attendees to focus on problems that may seem insoluble, such as curing dementia.
“It always takes 10 to 15 years to get to the breakthrough,” Stoffels said. “Large companies have to have a mission to be impactful in the world; you can’t just solve cancer because that pays very well. Societies start to prioritize, after a while, what they are willing to pay for. Dementia is a significant issue. If you have a breakthrough, you will be paid for it.”