Knowing how fast-pace of a world we live in, is it too far fetched to think that A.I.'s can now design drugs for human use? Exscientia, a British startup, claims that its artificial intelligence technology (A.I.) has found one such drug, DSP-1181. Clinical trials are set to begin in March. This drug is more potent and lasts longer for people who are diagnosed with the obsessive-compulsive disease.
This is all well and good that science is pushing A.I. to develop things that help humans, but scientists also advise caution on the matter. It doesn't mean that A.I. discovers new molecules for medicine doesn't mean just the A.I. and their algorithm can test them all.
Skeptics in the field of research also voiced their opinion that just because an A.I. has discovered something new to the field doesn't mean it would be something truly groundbreaking or that it might just be over hyped.
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Insert Healthy Skepticism
A.I. is used a lot now in today's world. It has proven to be very useful for businesses, scientists, and people of all walks of life. When it comes to humans healthcare though, a dose of skepticism should always be there regardless of its potential benefits. It doesn't mean that what the A.I. discovers a new molecule does not always mean it can be used since it might resemble a molecule already tested and would be discarded as not beneficial to humans.
The development of A.I.-assisted pharmaceuticals has raised questions on how comfortable people should be with how the research method should be. If things keep continuing like this, in the long run, people who lead the field should develop rules for the uses of A.I. in drug research as well as how effective this philosophy really is. Health authorities are trying to figure out how best to study and regulate these tools.
The Race for Domination
As you may have surmised, companies who invest in A.I., especially under the medical field, will stand to make a ton of money if all goes well. Major pharma companies are pouring in billions to make sure that they get all the up-to-date technologies or A.I. out there to outperform the competition. They certainly don't want to be left behind when competition in that field is fierce to say at the very least.
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Pharma companies prefer to invest in startups regardless of it might be their competition in the future. An example of this would be Johnson & Johnson backing up BlackThorn for a new drug to try out, now is competing with one another because of a recent drug J&J now has that is similar to the startup company.
Drugs that are discovered by A.I. is indeed a wonderful thing and a great stride for the medical field, but let the people be wary and make sure that they always have to be handled by humans since it's ultimately for humans.
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