The potential of healthcare tech – human-centric AI, meaningful applications and the future

Buzzwords like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning are commonly heard at conferences and industry events and they often conjure up images of robots or killing machines from the Terminator. However, panelists from the Innofest Unbound conference in Singapore all felt that technologies such as AI should not replace humans as it is commonly imagined – rather, they should augment the work of clinicians and hopefully, even enhance the patients' interactions with their doctors. A medical doctor by training and also the founder of MEDGIC, a startup which utilises AI to detect skin conditions, Dr Reid Lim feels that the use of AI should always involve doctors and not replace them. "Healthcare systems are becoming unsustainable and we need AI to help automate some things and to help alleviate the burden on doctors. AI is not new and it seems strange that some people are only beginning to grasp the use AI." "A lot of radiologists are already using Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) for mammography and it has been happening for some time. So the idea is for us as a tech startup to pursue what we call human-centric AI. We try to make AI as explainable as possible and we always want humans to be involved in the whole process," he added.