The transformative potential of predictive AI in healthcare and aesthetic medicine
“AI is the most powerful technology force of our time.” Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO
The 101 on AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to redefine our social, economic and healthcare infrastructure. AI represents machine learning designed to be intuitive and predictive. Generative AI technologies drive many familiar applications like speech recognition, virtual assistants, and computer vision. However, many experts believe generative AI’s greatest potential and impact will be in healthcare.
“AI is the most powerful technology of our time,” according to Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, the world’s leading producer of AI chips. “The greatest impact of AI will be in healthcare”.
With the introduction of ChatGPT to the market in November 2022 by OpenAI, a rapid global uptake of the technology ensued. Within 5 days the chatbot had attracted over one million users. ChatGPT offered users an advanced form of generative AI as a powerful chatbot built on top of a foundational large language model (LLM). Within a very short time, ChatGPT has already begun to revolutionize the world. And many experts predict that its greatest potential to benefit humanity lies in AI’s potential to transform healthcare.
The Transformative Potential of AI
The transformative potential of AI in healthcare can be considered in four key domains;
Augmented Patient Connectivity
AI enabled platforms allowing for enhanced virtual care, monitoring, and communication are already being employed in various healthcare systems. Accelerated adoption and development of virtual and remote healthcare platforms was an indirect consequence of public health measures and pandemic related restrictions. With generative AI improved patient monitoring and connectivity will be possible using ambient sensors and predictive models to alert providers to early signs of distress or disease. A system wide AI solution could allow for better interconnectedness of care and better patient outcomes.
Enhanced Patient Care
Generative AI has the potential to greatly enhance the delivery of precision medicine by integrating and interpreting the large and growing number of biomarkers and data sets including genomic, proteomic, epigenomic, microbiome, hormonal, nutritional, metabolic, and immune profiles with additional health data arising from wearables. Truly bespoke biomarker driven medicine enabled by expertly designed generative AI will translate complex input into a precision medicine plan. One patient at a time.
Precision Therapeutics
Before AI powered precision therapies can be designed, AI must first unlock the cellular and molecular basis of disease including cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative diseases and rare genetic diseases. AI driven digitization of biology is forming the basis for the complex problem solving required to design precision therapeutics. Immunology, genomics and cell biology are key areas where AI is transforming our understanding of function and disease. As AI rapidly enables a deeper understanding of the etiology and pathophysiology of disease, precision therapies are emerging as the future of medicine.
Predictive Health
Interpretive AI driven by data from wearables or a simple scan from your mobile device’s camera or from a “Smart” AI powered mirror can provide useful data on health status, disease risk and aging markers. AI powered predictive health platforms can provide an informed “nudge” to direct the user to suitable medical care. The predictive value of AI can help address large gaps in our healthcare system including wait times, remote and rural areas, and shortage of care.
AI powered drug discovery
Machine learning is driving a new phase of targeted drug discovery and personalized medicine. AI enabled precision oncology is emerging as a novel approach to treat rare cancers using precise and targeted therapies. What once was a high risk, high cost slow process of drug discovery and development is being transformed by the power of AI.
AI powered Longevity and Femspan
The ability to deliver precise, personalized preventative therapies in the right combination and sequence is key to successfully extend healthy lifespan or healthspan. Women particularly require a female-centric approach to address their unique biology and disease risks. While women live on average 7 years longer than men, they spend their last decade disproportionately with disease, disability and dementia. The healthcare gap resulting from a long standing underinvestment in women’s health can be actively addressed by harnessing the power of AI. Using advanced predictive tools, a proactive approach to evaluate and manage the menopause transition is a key step to extend female healthspan to the full extent of their enhanced lifespan. The new era of AI powered healthcare will help extend femspan with early warning signs of disease and targeted interventions.
AI in Aesthetic Medicine
The skin is the first organ to age. As early as our twenties, the skin begins to age with the appearance of wrinkles, fine lines, laxity and furrows. There are beauty marers on the genome predicting skin health, appearance and aging. But more than 80% of early skin aging is related to lifestyle and UV exposure.
Medical aesthetics has evolved over the past decades with the introduction of a wide range of powerful treatments to beautify and refresh the skin such as wrinkle relaxers or neuromodulators (Botox®, Dysport ®) and facial contouring or dermal fillers (Juvederm®, Restylane®) and biostimulants (Sculptra® Radiesse ®) as well as energy based treatments using light, laser, RF and ultrasound.
AI is enhancing aesthetic medical care by allowing a greater degree of precision and assisting procedures for safer and more effective care. Predictive AI interfaces using a scan from your mobile phone or a smart mirror can allow users to visualize the transformative potential of proposed aesthetic treatments.
The potential of AI to transform healthcare and aesthetic medicine is vast. As AI continues to evolve, its predictive power and potential value in healthcare will be increased to be of even greater clinically significance.
