AI helping develop drugs faster
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Alister Campbell leads the science and technology division at Dotmatics, a scientific software company that builds the platforms scientists use to organize their research. Research that Campbell says could be more effective with a high-tech partner.
“The data volume is vast,” Campbell said referencing the research going into drug and treatment development. “A human being going through it is almost like trying to pluck a needle from a haystack.”
That’s where Campbell, and many other researchers, say AI can step in.
According to Forbes, AI can be used in drug development to speed up parts of the research process. More efficient research means less time and money spent.
Forbes says AI might minimize the time it takes to screen new drugs by as much as 50%. To give that percentage some context, Campbell said developing new treatment drugs takes about a decade on average, and ten years of development costs about $2.5 billion.
The bottom line is that most people’s general understanding of AI comes from apps like ChatGPT and phony images circulating the web, which causes concern when looking for accurate information needed in any medical practice.
But Campbell breaks down the solution for concerns about accuracy for other scientists.
“Provide AI with high quality well annotated, really validated data, so that when you pass it on to any of these algorithms you can have a better trust of the data that it produces at the end,” he explains. “The AI prediction is better because you gave it better data to start off with.”
Contact Kia Murray at kmurray@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
