Artificial intelligence startups have raised $4.3 billion across 576 funding rounds during the last five years — more than any other business sector, according to a recent report by CB Insights cited by Entrepreneur.
Investors are pouring funding into AI startups, as the technology offers health science and medical researchers new opportunities to evaluate data and uncover trends and anomalies in disease prevention and prescriptive medicine. As AI continues to advance, investors are betting businesses that successfully harness the technology's power will be instrumental in helping global populations better manage illness and live healthier lives.
Entrepreneur outlines three key aspects that draw investors to AI startups:
1. AI can lead to better personalized medicine solutions. Health science researchers can use AI to help identify individuals' specific genetic or molecular profiles to create more personalized treatment regimes. As the industry begins to incorporate AI on a more widespread level, scientists and medical professionals may be able to discover which genetic variants most influence an individual's health and how disease may affect individuals differently despite their similar genetic makeups.
2. AI's real-world effect on pharmaceuticals. AI has already led to the development of new drug combinations, improved medical diagnoses and targeted risk factor analysis to determine how a drug may affect a patient, the report states. The technology is able to integrate data from multiple sources and determine its significance much more swiftly than humans, who may take days or years to analyze the same data. AI also does not have preconceived notions about patients' medical history or research, which may eliminate potential biases and erroneous conclusions.
3. Providers can focus on patient care. By tapping AI to sift through research and analyze large data sets, medical professionals can focus on providing more precise and empathetic patient care. Providers can then use those AI-driven findings to potentially detect disease earlier and give patients affected by those conditions a fighting chance at survival.
To access the full report, click here.