The Role of AI in Medicine

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the enabling of machines to "think" like humans. The ability of AI to make data-driven decisions (pattern recognition) and to identify shared characteristics among data points are especially relevant to medicine (data mining). Spurred on by the explosive expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the decreasing cost of cloud storage and computing, the AI health-care market is likely to exceed $34 billion by 2025, according to a report by Tractica. In this article, we will explore the ever-expanding application of AI in medical diagnosis, drug and device development, and operational improvement. IBM's Watson was the first AI platform to enter the field of medical research.