On Dec. 13, 2018, Richard Branson stood in the Mojave Desert, eyes fixed skyward as he witnessed the culmination of a lifelong dream: His space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, had sent an aircraft into suborbital space. For Branson, the launch was not merely proof of concept for his latest business venture. It signaled that humanity was on the edge of a fundamental breakthrough. "Today we have shown that Virgin Galactic can open space to the world," he declared. Four days later, the prominent philosopher Todd May published a short article in the Stone, a philosophy series run through the New York Times opinion section. "Would Human Extinction Be a Tragedy?" asked readers to consider the possibility that the demise of humanity might be morally desirable.

Researchers believe that artificial intelligence has the potential to usher in an era of faster, cheaper and more fruitful drug discovery and development. Over the years, researchers have used AI to analyze troves of biological data, scouring for differences between diseased and healthy cells and using the information to identify potential treatments. More recently, AI has helped predict which chemical compounds are most likely to effectively target SARS-CoV-2. But with AI's potential in drug development comes a slew of ethical pitfalls -- including biases in computer algorithms and the philosophical question of using AI without human mediation. This is where the field of biomedical ethics -- a branch of ethics focused on the philosophical, social and legal issues in the context of medicine and life sciences -- comes in. In mid-March, adjunct Stanford University lecturer Jack Fuchs, PhD, moderated a discussion about the need for clearly articulated principles when guiding the direction of technological advancements, especially AI-enabled drug discovery.

The pharmaceuticals firm GSK has struck a five-year partnership with King's College London to use artificial intelligence to develop personalised treatments for cancer by investigating the role played by genetics in the disease. The tie-up, which involves 10 of the drug maker's artificial intelligence experts working with 10 oncology specialists from King's across their labs, will use computing to "play chess with cancer", working out why only a fifth of patients respond well to immuno-oncology treatments. Dr Kim Branson, the global head of artificial intelligence and machine learning at GSK, said only 20% of patients respond well to the new oncology drugs that harness the body's immune system to fight cancer. "Sometimes it works like a game buster … and it wipes out the cancer. We'd like that to work all the time. This could be transformative," Branson said.

It's interesting whenever Elon Musk's name comes up and people begin discussing his accomplishments, such as the reinvention of money, automobiles and space travel, there's always someone who says: "Yeah, but I hear he can be a real dick." So then, let's be totally honest here, because in your heart, you know, and I know, dear reader, that you can be a real dick, too. So can I, and, if we're being truly honest, so can, say, the Queen. She probably has to be a dick 10 times a week. So since when does being a dick somehow invalidate you as a person?

The UK's most powerful supercomputer, which its creators hope will make the process of preventing, diagnosing and treating disease better, faster and cheaper, is operational. Christened Cambridge-1, the supercomputer represents a $100m investment by US-based computing company Nvidia. The idea capitalises on artificial intelligence (AI) – which combines big data with computer science to facilitate problem-solving – in healthcare. "If you could imagine ganging up 10 refrigerators in a row and then having several rows of those refrigerators – that is the size and shape of this computer," said Kimberly Powell, vice-president of healthcare at Nvidia. The UK has already made strides with massive datasets such as the UK Biobank, which encompasses anonymised of medical and lifestyle records from half a million middle-aged Britons.

You have to feel for the American pilot Wally Funk. You would sympathise with anyone with that name, but she has had a particularly mixed week. On one hand, at 82, she is set to finally fulfil her life's ambition and travel into space. Funk was one of the most promising female candidates for the Mercury 13 programme in the 1960s, but was denied a spot because of her gender. On Thursday, the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, announced on Instagram that Wally would become the oldest person in space as one of the four passengers on New Shepard, the rocket being launched by his company Blue Origin on 20 July.

In the months leading up to the pandemic, 73 year old best-selling author Deepak Chopra uploaded his "consciousness" to the AI Foundation to ensure he would be around to chat with future generations. Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, and venture capitalist Cyan Bannister did the same. Now they see a future filled with personalized AI for all. In an interview with Chopra, the meditation guru told me his goal is to help a billion people with his AI. Stone messaged that he is training his AI to tell jokes as it has been speaking at conferences for him, and Bannister lets her AI vet founders' pitches.

In the months leading up to the pandemic, 73 year old best-selling author Deepak Chopra uploaded his "consciousness" to the AI Foundation to ensure he would be around to chat with future generations. Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, and venture capitalist Cyan Bannister did the same. Now they see a future filled with personalized AI for all. In an interview with Chopra, he told me his goal is to help a billion people with his AI. Stone messaged he's been sending his AI to conferences and training it to tell jokes, and Bannister has been letting her AI vet founders' pitches.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning enter the research mainstream of biopharmaceutical companies, such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is creating a data-focused culture and a global machine-learning team. GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK's) data-first approach to drug discovery and development comes directly from chief executive officer (CEO) Emma Walmsley and chief scientific officer (CSO) Hal Barron. Their goal is doubling the chance of successful medicines being produced by using genetically validated targets. And that demands a strong team in artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML).

Buttler asked Branson's AI how he thought AI will help us build a better future. 'I'd rather hear what you think,' replied Branson's voice. 'What do you think your AI's mission is?' Branson's avatar explained: 'My AI's mission is to advocate for positive change and to help address the problems of the world. The path to change is young, committed people,' it continued. 'Exploring less traditional ways of how we use education is key to stimulating change.