Transhumanism: AI could figure out how to make humans live forever

During a panel discussion on transhumanism at this year’s MWC, one expert predicted AI could figure out how to make a human live forever.

‘If You're Under 50, You'll Live Forever: Hello Transhumanism’ was the name of the session and featured Alex Rodriguez Vitello of the World Economic Forum and Stephen Dunne of Telefonica-owned innovation facility Alpha.

Transhumanism is the idea that humans can evolve beyond their current physical and mental limitations using...

28 February 2019 | Healthcare

NHS report suggests AI will give docs more patient time

A report from the NHS suggests the impending technological ‘revolution’ in healthcare will increase the amount of time doctors can spend with patients.

NHS doctors are overburdened; a problem only getting worse from a growing and ageing population, and not enough funding.

The report was led by US academic Eric Topol and calls for a reskilling of NHS staff to harness new digital skills. AI and robotics can reduce the burden on healthcare professionals, but only if...

11 February 2019 | Healthcare

Talent has begun leaking from DeepMind in recent months

If DeepMind is on your CV, you could walk into most tech companies and be offered a job on the spot with a six-figure salary. The firm is full of in-demand talent and its CEO once bragged that no employees had ever left.

Speaking to The Guardian in 2016, DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said:

“We are able to literally get the best scientists from each country each year. So we’ll have, say, the person that won the Physics Olympiad in Poland, the person who got the top...

8 January 2019 | Deep Learning

DeepMind is using AI for protein folding breakthroughs

Protein folding could help diagnose and treat some of the worst diseases, and DeepMind believes AI can speed up that process. Conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and cystic fibrosis are suspected to be caused by misfolded proteins. Being able to predict a protein’s shape enables a greater understanding of its role within the body. Previous techniques used for determining the shapes of proteins – such as cryo-electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and...

3 December 2018 | Healthcare

AI will play ‘crucial role’ in the NHS as five centres announced

The UK government has announced the opening of five centres designed to capitalise on AI’s potential benefits in healthcare. Patients will benefit from the use of AI to diagnose problems earlier, greatly increasing the chances of successful treatment. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said:

“Artificial intelligence will play a crucial role in the future of the NHS – and we need to embrace it by introducing systems which can speed up diagnoses, improve...

7 November 2018 | Government

Tencent uses AI to speed up Parkinson’s diagnosis

Chinese tech giant Tencent has partnered with London-based medical firm Medopad to use AI for earlier Parkinson’s diagnosis. Earlier diagnosis of any medical problem is always good. Often it increases the chance of successful treatment, minimises suffering, and can increase life expectancy in terminal cases. Parkinson’s is a degenerative affliction without any known cure. Caught early, however, and measures can be taken which helps to slow its progression. Speaking to Forbes,...

8 October 2018 | Healthcare

Google is reportedly building an AI-powered fitness coach for WearOS

Google appears to be preparing an AI-powered fitness coach for WearOS as it continues its mission to revitalise the platform. Fitness remains a key reason why people buy smartwatches. Beyond that, they’re still really just an expensive place to see our smartphone notifications. WearOS’ main competitor, the Apple Watch, has produced some clever features with regards to fitness. Among the most impressive is the ability to tap some gym equipment to bring up the relevant info and tracking...

16 August 2018 | Healthcare

AI Expo: Evolving to emotionally intelligent applications

Speaking at AI Expo in Amsterdam, BPU Holdings CTO Carlos Art Nevarez believes it's time for machines to become emotionally intelligent. Machines are becoming increasingly smart thanks to artificial intelligence, but they still remain cold, logical, and lacking emotion. Worse still, they have a bias problem. “We are teaching the machine to synthetically emulate emotional intelligence to better relate to how you and I feel,” states Nevarez. “So many exciting applications present...

28 June 2018 | Developers

Google has an AI which predicts death better than doctors

google ai predict death artificial intelligence

Google has unveiled a new AI which it believes can predict if and when a patient is going to die more reliably than doctors. The algorithm can quickly access a patient’s medical records for important data which could indicate the likelihood of their survival. Death comes for us all, the best we can hope for is that it’s later rather than sooner and we get the chance to say goodbye. Google’s AI would reduce the chances of a death occurring suddenly while in the care of a hospital. A...

19 June 2018 | Healthcare

Opinion: The risks of AI in remote medical consulting

With the increasing use of AI in healthcare, a warning from medical union MDDUS of the ‘inherent risks in remote consulting' offers a timely reminder of the potential dangers. Following our story yesterday on Samsung’s partnership with Babylon Health, an NHS consultant reached out with his (puzzling) experience of Babylon’s technology:

Just when you thought the @babylonhealth #AI #Chatbot couldn't get any worse...

I gave it the most basic of medical...

1 June 2018 | Healthcare