Is a technology company ‘solving’ cancer? Yes, probably. A few days ago Microsoft announced they expect to defeat cancer within 10 years. According to them it is not very strange that a technology company is doing it, because biology and computing are disciplines which have very deep connections on the most fundamental level (Telegraph, 2016).
This summer, the technology company, once known for its computers and phones, opened a research lab to test the behaviour of cancer cells. The idea is to transform cells into living computers. These living computers could be programmed to treat diseases like cancer.
And Microsoft is not the only technology company that is making its way to the healthcare industry. IBM, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Apple are just a few other big companies interested in AI in healthcare (Medicalfuturist, 2016). In some areas of the healthcare industry artificial intelligence is already introduced. For example, IBM’s Watson program helps oncologists by providing evidence-based treatment options (The Guardian, 2016).
Artificial Intelligence as a whole is ready to become part of our lives and experts are already talking about a Fourth Industrial Revolution. The amount of data available nowadays is enormous and we need artificial intelligence if we want to use everything (Medicalfuturist, 2016).
Personally I was really surprised that researchers are already making such progress with artificial intelligence. I find the idea of living computers in people’s bodies both fascinating and disturbing at the same time. Don’t get me wrong, everything that helps solving cancer is a good thing, but where does it end? The idea of living computers inside me trying to repair damaged cells is something I’m not used to yet. And with me, I think, are a lot more people that are still unaware of the abilities of artificial intelligence.
At this point there is no need be afraid because artificial intelligence solutions are still very costly and therefore not affordable for most patients. However, if Microsoft expects to operate these living computers within 10 years I think we need to take precausions in order to prevent healthcare from becoming unethical.
http://europe.newsweek.com/microsoft-will-solve-cancer-problem-within-decade-500496
http://medicalfuturist.com/artificial-intelligence-will-redesign-healthcare/
Nice blog. I don’t get the part about AI being unethical. Don’t you think curing the patient is more important than wheter or not they want a device put into their body. Besides the patient will most likely have a say in wheter or not they want the device to be put into their body. If god forbid I would get cancer, I wouldn’t hesitate to put something into my body if it meant I would be cured.