Artificial intelligence (AI) plays varied roles in healthcare. We’ve written about AI helping troubled kids make better decisions with OneSeventeen Media’s interactive tools. In a study at Rory Myers College of Nursing machine learning-based artificial intelligence showed its superiority in detecting lymphedema in breast cancer survivors. Neura’s personalized AI system improves patient adherence to medication schedules.

London-based ABI Research recently published a report about commercialized AI applications in healthcare. Their analysts report that these products and services are on track to save hospitals $52 billion worldwide by 2021, including $21 billion in savings in the U.S. alone. According to ABI, hospitals in Israel and the U.S. have begun adopting AI-based predictive analytics for a range of applications. The first applications of predictive analytics for hospitals and medical institutions include patient monitoring, identifying patients for clinical trials, and transcribing notes for electronic health records (EHR). Also, pharmaceutical companies are investigating AI tools for drug discovery. The number of patient monitoring devices employed in training predictive AI models is due to increase from 53,000 at the end of 2017 to 3.1 million in 2021.

ABI’s report identifies the leading AI applications and the institutions using them. The continued rapid rise of biometric sensors, standardized data formats, and the switch to digital record-keeping will fuel the opportunities to learn, save, and improve healthcare with big data and artificial intelligence.