This article is part of our Summer reads series. Visit our collection to discover "The Economist reads" guides, guest essays and more seasonal distractions. IN RECENT years artificial intelligence (AI) has undergone a revolution. After decades of modest progress that never quite lived up to its promise, a different approach--relying on big data and stats, not clever algorithms--made huge strides in solving real-world problems like voice- and image-recognition and self-driving cars. Also in the past ten years, a lot of books have been published that aim to explain what AI is, where it's going and why it matters.

AI could also have a transformative effect on clinical decision-making through the utilisation of the huge levels of genomic, biomarker, phenotype, behavioural, biographical and clinical data that is generated across the health system. Bayer and Merck & Co provide a perfect example of this. They have developed an AI software system to support clinical decision-making of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) – a rare form of pulmonary hypertension. The software helps differentiate patients from those suffering with similar symptoms that are actually a result of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and therefore diagnose CTEPH more reliably and efficiently. The CTEPH Pattern Recognition Artificial Intelligence obtained FDA Breakthrough Device Designation in December 2018.

Using machine learning, a small team of four researchers were able to identify … The CTEPH Pattern Recognition Artificial Intelligence obtained FDA …