Event Information

The discussion will focus on the use of AI within the health and life sciences sector and explore how useful such systems have been to private companies and public bodies alike in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and whether this augurs well for future pandemics.

Most have heard about DeepMind’s AI AlphaFold and how it was used to identify the shape of proteins in the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Some may have read the World Health Organization report, released in February 2020, highlighting the important role that artificial intelligence and big data played in China’s initial response to the Covid outbreak and subsequent attempts at contact tracing. However, is there a clear understanding of the part that machines played in the identification and detection of the disease and those who contracted it over and above the part that scientists and clinicians played?

Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence may be ‘in vogue’ as the current technologies for stock markets to eulogise about but how have they been used, what do they add to the health and life sciences sector and will they replace human experts in identifying and diagnosing disease and defining treatments?

In this live conversation, Chris Holder, Bristows’ expert on AI and robotic law, and Alex Denoon, life sciences regulatory specialist, will provide an overview of some of the issues that are raised by the use of such technology within the health and life sciences sectors and the advantages and disadvantages of current approaches, followed by a 15 minute interactive Q&A session with participants.