The medicine of the future is personalized, thanks to artificial intelligence

The Italian economy could grow by 8 percent if machine learning systems were adopted on a large scale.Google's approach.

Imagine software that can prescribe the right medications for diabetes, with personalized doses, thanks to the supervision of a doctor.Or a device that can diagnose the presence of pneumonia through CT images.This is the future of medicine according to Annarosa Farina, director of information systems at the European Institute of Oncology (IEO).“Thanks to the use of artificial intelligence, one will be developed in the coming years personalized medicine.Computers will no longer just provide guidelines but will serve to develop increasingly specific treatments thanks to the data collected on patients,” says Farina.

Artificial intelligence for the well-being of everyone, even in Italy

The director of the IEO spoke on Wednesday 16 October in Milan, during the Google Ai connect event which was held at Palazzo Serbelloni and focused on the relationship between medicine, artificial intelligence and a future of humanity that leaves no one behind.“We must develop this technology responsibly so that it enhances creativity and science,” he said Melissa Ferretti Peretti, country manager of Google Italy during the meeting. “Just as in the past the steam engine revolutionized the world and brought growth and benefits for everyone, so will artificial intelligence, we must prepare people for the future”.

According to a study conducted by Implement Consulting Group and commissioned by Google, machine learning systems could also contribute to an increase in Italy's gross domestic product of up to 8 percent, if only they were adopted on a large scale.Experts predict that AI will assist the majority of jobs (58 percent).But there's no need to waste time:a five-year delay in its adoption is sufficient to limit growth to a plus 2 percent.

The health benefits

Returning to medicine, things have been evolving at an unprecedented pace in recent years.Some ophthalmologists already use artificial intelligence systems to diagnose eye diseases.Google itself has created some lenses can monitor blood sugar level through tears to monitor diabetes.Another example of the relationship between medicine and technology is Alpha Fold, an artificial intelligence program developed by Google Deepmind to identify the three-dimensional structure of proteins.It is no coincidence that the Nobel Prize for Chemistry this year went to two researchers who are part of it, Denis Hammabis and John Humper for the discovery of the secret code of proteins.“Understanding how proteins work could improve the lives of many people,” he explains Anna Koivuniemi, head of the Google Deepmind impact accelerator .“Alpha Fold can reveal the shape of proteins more quickly and economically.Before the arrival of artificial intelligence scientists employed come on Three to the five years to understand the functioning of a single protein, while now a single program like ours is able to map all the proteins in the human body".

Let the future begin

Artificial intelligence systems have grown a lot in recent years.A study commissioned by QBE Insurance Europe highlighted that in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has approved more than one hundred new devices based on machine learning every year since 2020.This is an incredible figure if you consider that in 2013 only a few units were approved per year.The future of medicine is moving in this direction and Italy must not miss this opportunity.