There are many risks and challenges ahead of us from the world of (AI) Artificial Intelligence and it will undoubtedly have a major impact on the lives of our children and their kids.
On the positive side, from what I have seen, there is a real chance that AI will bring a massive benefit to the search for a cure, better detection and symptom control as AI is unleashed in the medical and research world.
Some articles I have read talk about:
The fact that drug design in PD could be sped up by 10 times due to AI according to a paper from Cambridge University. The study shows that “Using machine learning, the researchers were able to speed up the initial screening process ten-fold, and reduce the cost by a thousand-fold, which could mean that potential treatments for Parkinson’s reach patients much faster.”
In an article for NeurologyLive.com Neal Shah talks of the various areas in which AI can make a real difference. He states: “From transformative diagnostic tools to innovative therapeutic devices and digital health interventions, AI and other cutting-edge technologies hold immense promise for improving the lives of patients with Parkinson’s and supporting their caregivers. By enabling earlier detection, personalized symptom management, and even potential delay of disease progression, these advancements can make an enormous positive impact on millions of patients and families.”
A study by the Cleveland Clinic Genome Center stated: “In addition to identifying new genetic risk indicators, the team sought to find if any existing FDA-approved drugs could be repurposed to treat Parkinson’s disease. Individuals currently living with Parkinson’s disease can’t afford to wait that long for new options as their conditions continue to progress,” said senior author Cheng, who is director of the CCGC. “If we can use drugs that are already FDA-approved and repurpose them for Parkinson’s disease we can significantly reduce the amount of time until we can give patients more options.”
We are just at the start. Healthcare, alongside the auto industry, is already the sector where AI is being implemented the most and it is possibly one of the areas that most stands to gain from the AI revolution. It is already known and acknowledged that AI has the ability to speed up data analysis, drug and compound screening, modelling and experimentation.
The global AI healthcare market grew from $1.1 billion in 2016 to $22.4 billion in 2023, marking a staggering 1,779% increase. By 2030, it is projected to reach $188 billion. Assuming Parkinson’s takes a fair share of this increase, we should see the benefits. In the drug discovery business alone. Statista forecasts that the global AI drug discovery market is projected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2023 to nearly $13.8 billion by 2032.
I know there are many challenges we will face with AI – ethical, societal and economic. It will change so much. There has to be a benefit to this as well and I believe from my limited vantage point that AI will be a potential game changer in the speed to which science can help those like me in the Parkinson’s community.
Recent developments such as the Produadopa / Vyalev pump I am using will become more frequent and more effective, faster.
As I said to a new person with Parkinson’s on a call a day ago, the objective I have is to fight tooth and nail to stay in the game and stay healthy for as long as possible to hopefully enjoy the benefits of this technology. I will do this alongside watching the way AI shapes the other dimensions of my life over which this blog won’t stretch.
