Artificial intelligence in health care: preparing for the fifth Industrial Revolution

AI has arrived, with the potential for enormous change in the delivery of health care, but are we ready? Artificial intelligence (AI) is the trigger for the next great transformation of society: the fifth Industrial Revolution. AI has already arrived in health care, but are we ready for the kind of changes that it will introduce? In this article, we map out the current areas where AI has begun to permeate and make predictions about the kind of changes it will make to health care. AI comprises any digital system "that mimics human reasoning capabilities, including pattern recognition, abstract reasoning and planning".1 It includes the concept of machine learning, where machines are able to learn from experience in ways that mimic human behaviour, but with the ability to assimilate much more data and with potential for greater accuracy and speed.