Last week I was on a fun podcast with a bunch of people who were, as usual, smarter than me, and, in particular, more knowledgeable about one of my favorite topics -- artificial intelligence (A.I.), particularly for healthcare. With the WHO releasing its "first global report" on A.I. -- Ethics & Governance of Artificial Intelligence for Health -- and with no shortage of other experts weighing in recently, it seemed like a good time to revisit the topic. My prediction: it's not going to work out quite like we expect, and it probably shouldn't. "Like all new technology, artificial intelligence holds enormous potential for improving the health of millions of people around the world, but like all technology it can also be misused and cause harm," Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said in a statement. WHO's proposed six principles are: All valid points, but, as we're already learning, easier to propose than to ensure.

When we think about Artificial Intelligence, we often consider its potential in relation to the realms of our possibility – what will it be able to do that we can do? To my mind, that is entirely missing the point of an artificial "neural" network that is infinitely more powerful than the percentage of our brains that we are able to access at any one time. What will A.I. be able to do that we can't even dream of? I'll give the simplest example that I can. Way back in the early 1980s, there was a computer game called Breakout, where a horizontal paddle (bat) could be moved at the bottom of the screen, bouncing a ball up at tiles every time.