AI-based medicine revolutionizes care, including Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes, and predicts technology experts, but it needs to be accessible to all patients.
Written by technology expert Daniele Kaligiore, Healing with Artificial Intelligence uses modern scientific research to highlight key AI-supported innovations such as diagnostic imaging and surgical robots.
From the exoskeleton that helps patients with spinal injuries walk towards algorithms that can predict the onset of dementia years ago, Kalijore explores what he describes as a “revolution” that transforms health care forever.
Economically, the AI market in healthcare is growing rapidly, with forecasts projecting to increase from around US$11 billion in 2021 to nearly US$188 billion by 2030, reflecting an annual growth rate of 37%. AI is already in use in some countries. For example, it searches genetic data for disease markers and supports scheduling and other administrative tasks. This trend is expected to continue.
However, the authors warn of predictions of progress by warning that these technologies could escalate existing inequality. Caligiore suggests that AI-based medicine must be accessible to all people, regardless of where they live or how much they earn, and that people in low-income countries should not be excluded from cutting-edge care accessible to wealthy countries.
Other challenges posed by advances in AI in healthcare include those responsible for treatment decisions, especially when procedures fail. This is especially challenging given the wide range of concerns about explainable AI, as many advanced AI systems operate as black boxes.
Caligiore says AI should support physicians and patients, and it won’t replace doctors who say the authors “have a unique ability to provide empathy, understanding and emotional support.”
“AI should be seen as a tool rather than a colleague, always as a support and as an alternative,” Caligiore writes.
“It’s important to find the right balance when using AI tools for both doctors and patients. Patients can learn more about their health using AI, such as symptoms-related illnesses and lifestyle changes that can help prevent illness. However, this should not be the case for AI to replace doctors.”
Despite his warning, Caligiore is primarily optimistic about the impact of AI in healthcare. “Like MAPs that detect damaged cells and emphasize brain activity during specific tasks, AI could help with more accurate, personalized diagnosis and treatment, or more accurate, personalized diagnosis and treatment.”
In any case, Caligiore predicts that medical landscapes will appear “dramatically different” in a few years, and technology will act as a “magnifying glass of medicine” to allow doctors to observe the human body more accurately and in greater detail.
Examples of places where AI has a major impact on healthcare include regenerative medicine where gene and stem cell therapy repair damaged cells and organs. Spinal cord injury patients are among those who can benefit.
AI may offer individualized treatments, often suggesting treatment tailors tailored to a particular individual based on a unique genetic profile. Research has been conducted targeting various tremor types of Parkinson’s disease and breast cancer subtypes
Kalijore suggests that the convergence of regenerative medicine, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and AI is the next frontier in medicine. Generated organisms (GMOs), organisms whose genetic material has been transformed through genetic engineering techniques, have already paved the way for personalized gene therapy.
Mixing the real world with the virtual world can be useful, for example, in “metaverse” – group therapy in which the patient participates in an avatar, or “digital twins,” or “AI simulation of the patient’s body and brain) so doctors can identify the underlying causes of the disease and simulate the effects of various treatments for a particular patient.
Healing with Artificial Intelligence suggests that these advances and others rebuild physician-patient relationships, but the authors suggest that it is about patients and clinicians to maintain critical thinking about AI.
Caligiore warns that as AI is integrated into healthcare, the role of physicians will evolve, but the need for human interaction remains “center of patient care.”
“Healthcare professionals need to develop technical skills to use AI tools, but they need to cultivate and enhance the quality that AI cannot replicate. These are soft skills and emotional intelligence. These human traits are essential to introducing emotional elements into the work environment,” he explains.
sauce:
Journal Reference:
Caligiore, D. (2025). Healing with artificial intelligence. doi.org/10.1201/9781003606130
