It was probably ten years ago a friend of mine started telling me about artificial intelligence (AI) and how it was going to take over the world. At the time he was studying software engineering and as a student in their final year at university enjoying a few beers around a campfire, I took his passion as potentially a slight overdramatisation.
But wind forward 10 years and with the emergence of impressive large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, it’s reinvigorated discussions around AI and its potential to revolutionize workflows not just in computer science, but also healthcare and beyond. So I thought for those that weren’t familiar with the concept why not talk a little bit about it in this month’s column. I decided, why not even write this entire article with AI… just kidding… or am I?
Firstly, what is artificial intelligence? High-level overview; AI refers to the development of computer systems that can perform tasks that would typically require human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making. AI uses algorithms, data, and machine learning techniques to improve its performance over time.
To put into perspective just how big of a deal AI is to our future, many large companies including Alphabet (Google) and Meta (Facebook) are spending upwards of 30 billion dollars per annum on research and development in the areas of AI alone. Whilst PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) has forecast that global GDP will be up 14% higher in 2030 due to the accelerating development and take-up of AI.
Now I don’t want this article to be fear-mongering against the true human practice of pharmacy. If anything it’s the opposite. Many example uses of AI to date in healthcare have created efficiencies for practitioners to support the use of a pharmacist’s expertise by streamlining administrative tasks and identifying opportunities for better provision of care. This has enabled pharmacists to be more patient facing and make more informed decisions about how they might support a patient’s health with access to more data, as well as reduce certain risks of error when it comes to safety.
There are many areas where this has already been used for years but certainly some examples of emerging areas to look out for when supporting your patients in practice which include;
Medication management – where algorithms can analyse patient data including medical history, medication regimens, allergies to identify contraindications, potential interactions or adverse events.
Predictive analytics – where AI can be used to predict patients who might be at risk of medication non-adherence or likelihood to develop certain health conditions. This can be by analysing certain behaviours or also demographic information to identify and target patients who may require intervention, additional support or services of which a pharmacist (or other health professional) can provide.
Telepharmacy & wearables – allowing remote monitoring of certain adherence, therapeutic or diagnostics to better provide guidance and intervention when required. As well as research and better knowledge of complex disease states.
Inventory Management – to optimise inventory management by predicting demand and ensuring the right supplies are available. Reducing wastage costs.
Drug Discovery – speeding up development process and costs. As well as analysis of large amounts of data from clinical trials, identifying patterns and predicting drugs most likely to be effective for certain conditions.
So whilst I’m confident that AI is not capable of completely replacing the human skills, expertise and deep understanding of what is required to be a pharmacist, I believe the opportunity for the use of AI is a growing and exciting concept for pharmacists and business owners.
With the latest progress that Australia has made to unlock the use of pharmacist’s full scope of practice, I think it is fitting that we embrace and utilise concepts of AI to support these growing service needs and expanded value for patients. If utilised properly this will be a way for us to better engage with our patients and provide a higher quality of human interaction than ever before.