There is no greater wealth than your health. It follows that healthcare is an important aspect of all our lives as at some point, everybody will require some form of healthcare treatment. The problem is that as the population grows and ages, our healthcare needs become more complex, and the resources to meet these needs are being stretched to breaking point. Clinicians work tirelessly to ensure the best life quality and longevity for as many patients as possible, but this is a demanding task and requires tools to support them. Fortunately, new and innovate technologies are being developed every day to improve the ability to treat people effectively. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one example of a technology being used to augment, optimise, and streamline the healthcare process in new and exciting ways.

Given the vital role that the healthcare industry plays, it is imperative the adoption of AI tools involves thorough consideration of the potential implications of using this technology. As we look towards the potential benefits these tools can create, we must also consider the potential problems that they could cause, ensuring patients can be protected against the repercussions of AI’s mismanagement. Here are some of the main benefits to the use of AI in healthcare - along with the areas we must remain conscious of moving forward:

Pros of AI in the healthcare industry:

The use of AI within the healthcare industry is growing rapidly: performing back office administrative tasks, classifying documents, and even assisting diagnosis. These tools offer a host of benefits to patients, as well as augmenting institutions and clinicians’ ability to perform their role. Here are some of the most prominent ways that AI is benefitting healthcare:

1. Optimising resource allocation:

Healthcare resources are finite. Because of this, difficult decisions must be made as to what resources, services, and initiatives should be prioritised and funded within healthcare. For example, a limited NHS budget for radiology means it isn’t feasible to have an effective radiography unit at every hospital: decisions must be made as to the most effective locations that benefit the most amount of people. However, the reality is that sometimes these decisions are not optimal and that decisions made based on helping the greatest number of people can still disadvantage people in need.

AI can help healthcare services ensure that decisions such as these are thoroughly informed and maximising the utility of available resources. AI’s ability to handle large amounts of data and offer unique insight can help healthcare services ensure that decisions made by healthcare professionals are data-driven, and result in the effective use of limited resources. What’s more, AI’s predictive ability can allow healthcare services to anticipate demand for services and ensure resources are provisioned accordingly, avoiding unnecessary expenditure and waste. These informed insights from AI can support healthcare services with taking the most effective action with what they have, meaning that more people can be helped.

2. Informing clinical health decisions:

Data is an integral part of healthcare. Clinicians rely on patient data such as historical health and current symptoms to make an informed diagnosis and advise treatment. But how can clinicians ensure they are making the most effective use of the available patient data and making the best decisions? Doctors and nurses are medical experts, but they are not data-scientists, and analysing masses of data is a time-consuming process: taking medical professionals away from treating patie