The Economist Originally published January 7, 2017 Here is an excerpt: Another important biological hurdle that AI can help people surmount is complexity. Experimental science progresses by holding steady one variable at a time, an approach that is not always easy when dealing with networks of genes, proteins or other molecules. AI can handle this more easily than human beings. At BERG Health, the firm's AI system starts by analysing tissue samples, genomics and other clinical data relevant to a particular disease. It then tries to model from this information the network of protein interactions that underlie that disease.

IN A former leatherworks just off Euston Road in London, a hopeful firm is starting up. BenevolentAI's main room is large and open-plan. In it, scientists and coders sit busily on benches, plying their various trades. The firm's star, though, has a private, temperature-controlled office. That star is a powerful computer that runs the software which sits at the heart of BenevolentAI's business.

IN A former leatherworks just off Euston Road in London, a hopeful firm is starting up. BenevolentAI's main room is large and open-plan. In it, scientists and coders sit busily on benches, plying their various trades. The firm's star, though, has a private, temperature-controlled office. That star is a powerful computer that runs the software which sits at the heart of BenevolentAI's business.

IN A former leatherworks just off Euston Road in London, a hopeful firm is starting up. BenevolentAI's main room is large and open-plan. In it, scientists and coders sit busily on benches, plying their various trades. The firm's star, though, has a private, temperature-controlled office. That star is a powerful computer that runs the software which sits at the heart of BenevolentAI's business.