AI to change health, child safety.

• Position: Richard Vdovjak, principal scientist for data science and AI at Royal Philips, on artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) will be the launchpad to improving the quality of healthcare and the safety of vulnerable children around the world, experts at the Artelligence - The Artificial Intelligence Forum said on Thursday.

Speaking in a session on the final day of the event, Richard Vdovjak, principal scientist for data science and AI at Royal Philips, noted that a lot of industries stand to benefit from AI.

"We are just beginning to scratch the surface of what is possible," he said. "One aspect that we haven't even started exploring properly yet is AI and how it is overlapping in different disciplines."

One sector that stands to gain a lot from the advancements in technology is the healthcare sector, he said. "Health is a global issue, yet, we continue to see an increase in challenges. By 2020, chronic diseases will account for almost 75 percent of all deaths worldwide. By 2035, there will be a global deficit of about 12.9 million skilled health professionals.

Clinicians, he noted, have never had access to more data, but at the same time, it has never been harder for them to process all that...