UK to invest £250 million in AI for health

The UK government has announced plans to invest £250 million in a National Artificial Intelligence Lab that ‘will use the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the health and lives of patients’. The lab is expected to explore the potential of AI in addressing challenges such as early cancer detection, new dementia treatments, and more personalised health care. The lab could also contribute to upskilling the workforce of the National Health System (NHS), allowing them to use AI systems in their daily work, as well as automate routine administrative tasks so that clinicians can spend more time with their patients. The lab will be located within the NHSX, a new organisation established to co-ordinate the digitalisation of the UK health and care system.