This article was written by Manav Subodh, co-founder of 1M1B and global senior fellow at the Innovation Acceleration Group, University of California, Berkeley. Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a technology of the future – it is well and truly here. In many ways, it is already shaping human interactions by getting out of research labs and entering the real world. And it is changing the world as we know it. It could not be more apparent that AI can change the world for the better – from creating new healthcare solutions to designing hospitals of the future, improving farming and food supply, helping refugees acclimatise to new environments, enhancing educational resources and access, and even cleaning our oceans, air and water supply.

Ahead of his talk at EyeforPharma Barcelona next week, Medscape's Ben Greenberg talks to pharmaphorum about the hype surrounding technology, and offers ideas about how to identify meaningful innovation. You have an arresting title for your talk at the eyeforpharma conference: Artificial Irrelevance: Do physicians actually care about Healthcare's AI Revolution? Can you tell us about the premise behind that? The phrase'Artificial Irrelevance' is meant to evoke a few distinct concepts: The first is a reaction to media speculation that the Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution is going to make doctors irrelevant and obsolete. Part of my talk will aim to illustrate the fallacy here, and that, just as mathematicians were not made obsolete by the invention of the calculator, neither will physicians be made irrelevant by the invention of analogous technology.

Oh the times they are a changin'. Yes, it's more than 50 years since Bob Dylan crooned about the ever-evolving world, and half a century on, things have only quickened in their rate of development. That's no truer than in the technology space, where new developments are constantly lurking, waiting for their moment in the spotlight. With personal computers, TVs and portable audio players having all had their day, it's now the smartphone's time to shine, and thanks to manufactures such as Huawei, the glow of these pocket powerhouses is only getting brighter. Huawei's flagship smartphones, such as the brilliant Huawei Mate 9 and stunning new Huawei P10, aren't just following the trends; they're actively contributing to and enabling a more immersive, connected world for consumers.

DeepMind has surpassed the human mind on the Go board. Watson has crushed America's trivia gods on Jeopardy. But ask DeepMind to play Monopoly or Watson to play Family Feud, and they won't even know where to start. Because these artificial intelligence engines weren't specifically designed to play these games and aren't smart enough to figure them out by themselves, they'll give nonsensical answers. They'll struggle greatly, and humans will outperform them--by a lot. Assaf Baciu is co-founder and senior vice president of Persado, a cognitive content-generation company in New York.

DeepMind has surpassed the human mind on the Go board. Watson has crushed America's trivia gods on Jeopardy. But ask DeepMind to play Monopoly or Watson to play Family Feud, and they won't even know where to start. Because these artificial intelligence engines weren't specifically designed to play these games and aren't smart enough to figure them out by themselves, they'll give nonsensical answers. They'll struggle greatly, and humans will outperform them--by a lot. Assaf Baciu is co-founder and senior vice president of Persado, a cognitive content-generation company in New York.