Opinion Piece : Artificial intelligence (AI) a day …

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – One of the greatest benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) to humankind is its influence on the medical field.

“Powered by some of the most sophisticated technology, AI is assisting in improving medical diagnosis,” says Anton Jacobs, managing director at African value-added technology distributor, Networks Unlimited.

From an AI doctor and chatbot to AI’s powerful applications, machine learning and deep learning, a world that used to be all about coding, is transitioning into using computer programming to assist in life-changing health issues such as early cancer detection.

A massive advantage is that AI has the power to pool knowledge from the best specialists worldwide and provide it to patients anywhere geographically. “Imagine what this could mean to patients living in rural areas. They’d finally have the same access to knowledge as patients in top medical facilities,” adds Jacobsz.

In a blog post, How artificial intelligence is revolutionizing personalized medicine, Scot Schultz, director of HPC and technical computing at Mellanox, says, “AI is not limited to traditional data on a spreadsheet. It can interpret and aggregate imaging, text, handwritten notes, test results, sensor data, and even demographic and geospatial data. AI will be able to cross-reference data, find commonalities and draw insights that were previously impossible due to data silos or the sheer amount of time it would take for a human to crunch the numbers. It can also consider seemingly unrelated or outside factors that doctors and researchers may not immediate see as relevant; for example, environmental factors, such as elevation, humidity, and proximity to certain dense mineral deposits, factories or agriculture. This ability to rapidly analyze data, and draw potential correlations, creates a more comprehensive and holistic view of a patient’s health.”

Mellanox’ powerful technology is distributed in sub-Saharan Africa by Networks Unlimited. “We are very pleased to be associated with a brand that is helping to accelerate many of the world’s leading AI, machine learning, and deep learning systems. Mellanox solutions, such as RDMA, GPUDirect, RDMA, SHARP and intelligent interconnects, are able to handle the highest rates of real-time data and mitigate network congestion.”

In action already today, the National Cancer Institute in the US has partnered with NVIDIA to develop an AI framework – powered by Mellanox InfiniBand adapters – aimed at supercharging cancer research.

Where humans can’t see the solution, AI has the power to accurately look through data to correctly identify the problem. The possibilities are immense.

As Schultz states, “We have only just begun to scratch the surface of AI’s potential and Mellanox believes that AI has the potential to improve our quality of life, find cures for life’s most threating illnesses and provide a deeper understanding of our own evolution.”