How big data, machine learning and apps are revolutionising healthcare

From advances in neurorobotics to automatic scheduling of tailored doctors’ appointments based on app data, technology is helping healthcare run smoother.

The technology sector has been reshaped by big data, machine learning, robotics, peer-to-peer learning and more, and the healthcare sector is catching up fast. Advances in smart pills, auto diagnostics, implantable drug delivery, and genome sequencing are transforming the way healthcare is provided – as is neurorobotics, the combined study of neuroscience, robotics, and artificial intelligence. 

We’re seeing contact lenses that detect the glucose levels of diabetes sufferers, blood test results processed at patients’ bedsides and 3D printing of replica body parts to help with surgical procedures. 

This new technology is also redefining the way healthcare businesses are run. The Women’s Health Clinic (TWHC) is a group of healthcare clinics staffed entirely by nurses. “We wanted to change women’s lives by delivering innovative, affordable and life-changing quality treatments, designed by women for women,” says finance director Mostafa Kamal. The nurses share profit from the treatments but in order to make this work, says Kamal, “TWHC had to adopt a radical and scalable infrastructure that is fit for purpose and has a low base cost.” 

Why we need to fine- Tune our Definition of Artificial Intelligence

Sophia’s uncanny-valley face, made of Hanson Robotics’ patented Flubber, is rapidly becoming an iconic image in the field of artificial intelligence. She has been interviewed on shows like 60 Minutes, made a Saudi citizen, and even appeared before the United Nations. Every media appearance sparks comments about how artificial intelligence is going to completely transform the world. This is pretty good PR for a Chabot in a robot suit.

But it’s also riding the hype around artificial intelligence, and more importantly, people’s uncertainty around what constitutes artificial intelligence, what can feasibly be done with it, and how close various milestones may be.

Encapsulating the Entire Evolution of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence was first recorded centuries ago in the antiquity of ancient Greek mythology. When Aristotle developed the syllogism for the purpose of deductive reasoning, it was the first step by human beings to try and understand their own intellect. But, AI, as we know it now, has a brief history, although marked by significant events that evolved the technology from humble beginnings to an agent that would transform the way we imagine our world.

Although, modern AI saw the first light of the day circa 1943, one of the most crucial breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence was the development of the Bombe Machine by Alan Turing, a British Scientist, and a Researcher. The machine was successfully able to crack German messages from their infamous Enigma Machine during World War Two. The development is one of the most important factors that helped the allied forces win the war against the might of Germany, helping shape the future of the world.

When AI Fabrication is Acceptable

Typically, viewers will accept the fabrications of artificial intelligence if they are aware of it. Through the years many of us have come to accept, for the benefit of entertainment, representations of real-life on movie and television screens. However, now Hollywood is getting an AI assist for script writing. With the growth of machine learning, algorithms can sort through extensive amounts of data to understand what elements are more likely to make a movie an award-winner, a commercial success or more popular with viewers. This is just another example of AI helping make the creative process more efficient for humans even though in some cases AI is creating all on its own.