Alexander Fleming left a petri dish of bacteria out while he went on a two-week holiday. On his return, he found that the dish had been contaminated by a fungus that produced an antibacterial substance. He named it penicillin, and it has since saved millions of lives. Even in the modern world, drug discovery still essentially relies on chance. Pharmaceutical companies often screen thousands of compounds trying to find one with the desired effect.

AI-powered machines and doctors will soon be working "hand-in-hand" to ensure better outcomes for patients, according to Elie Chaillot, the president and CEO of eastern growth markets at GE Healthcare. In a recent interview with Arabian Business, Chaillot said that GE Healthcare believes that "applied intelligence" will be used for a variety of purposes in the medical sector. "We believe at this stage, the doctor and the machine will work together, hand-in-hand for a better outcome," he said. "People say machines will replace doctors, but I don't believe this is going to happen anytime soon." As an example, Chaillot said that AI-technology can help direct a doctor's focus to certain areas of a scan that may need further attention. "Many of the diseases we treat are multifactorial.