Artificial intelligence will revolutionise healthcare but it can’t replace doctors and nurses

Analysis: Machine learning offers incredible promise as a decision-making tool for clinicians but it cannot replace them, writes Shaun Lintern

The NHS is spending £250m on AI (Getty/iStock)

Millions of pounds of taxpayers money is being spent to prepare for and help the NHS to take advantage of the emerging revolution of artificial intelligence in healthcare.

Momentum has been building for several years and is now reaching a tipping point as a series of studies and trials show AI, or machine learning, can match or even improve on traditional techniques.

Most significantly for patients, machine-learning algorithms offer pattern-recognition solutions, allowing machines to spot and diagnose breast cancers, brain tumours and other diseases that stand out when compared to thousands or even millions of health scans.