AI must start transforming healthcare today

Robot-assisted surgery, preventive medical intervention (based on predictive diagnostics) and virtual nursing assistants are just some of the many applications where AI is predicted to transform delivery of healthcare over the next decade. However, too much of the current narrative around AI remains'futuristic', exploring the potential benefits of future R&D and innovation, rather than focusing on the real benefits that AI could and should be delivering to healthcare providers today. Without doubt, the prospect of AI being used within frontline clinical care is exciting and awe-inspiring, with companies like doc.ai (which uses AI to predict an individual's health risks) working on some genuinely game-changing innovation. However, for an industry that is suffering the consequences of monumental budgetary and staffing challenges on a daily basis, it's simply not enough to be looking 10 years down the road; healthcare providers need solutions to these problems today. The fact is that AI technology has already reached a level of maturity where it can deliver huge value to the healthcare industry and across social care and all public services.