Artificial Intelligence and Precision Medicine

Historically, medical procedures have been designed for treating the average patient, resulting in ubiquitous approaches that prove successful for some patients but not others. In line with the progress achieved in genomics, however, especially following the triumph of sequencing the human genome, in particular the “next generation sequencing” technology, a new field has emerged: precision medicine. According to the United States National Institutes of Health, precision medicine is an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment and lifestyle. This approach requires significant computing power (supercomputers); algorithms that can learn by themselves at an unprecedented rate (deep learning); and an approach that utilizes the cognitive capabilities of physicians on a new scale (artificial intelligence/AI).