Over the years the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in medicine has become increasingly important. A growing number of disciplines and branches of medicine are using AI in some capacity or other, they include radiology, genomics, oncology and cardiology, to name a few. AI assists researchers to solve complex problems that would otherwise be difficult, if not impossible! Find out more about how AI is impacting medicine, as well as research on future applications within this dedicated virtual issue, that brings together a selection of free articles and chapters from a variety of Springer Nature journals and books. This virtual issue is freely available up until 27th April 2020.

PNNL scientists working with Stanford researchers have put forth a new approach to incorporate medical knowledge into AI systems, improving the accuracy of patient diagnosis dramatically. Artificial intelligence will never replace a doctor. However, researchers at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have taken a big step toward the day when AI can help physicians predict medical events. A new approach developed by PNNL scientists improves the accuracy of patient diagnosis up to 20 percent when compared to other embedding approaches. The PNNL approach seeks to capture and recreate the types of connections physicians do naturally when they apply a lifetime of learning and knowledge to the patient standing in front of them in the exam room.