Use of artificial intelligence in healthcare delivery in India

The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) has seen an exponential growth in India. Recent policy initiatives favouring the acceleration of AI application in Indian healthcare is discussed. This article then captures the range of AI applications in healthcare in India. The AI applications range from those used in early screening or diagnostic space, to those used in treatment and rehabilitation. In the Indian healthcare space innovations that can improve rural healthcare is greatly valued. Several of the start ups featured in this article have sought to apply AI to rural Indian healthcare to address the gaps. With smartphone boom AI enabled reality can be possible. However there are several challenges to scale up use of AI in healthcare delivery in India about which this article concludes with. Currently most of the applications are still at a regional level. Several issues are there to scale up the data level needs to be addressed before AI can truly be a reality for India. Data availability, data pooling, data collection, data sharing, data protection, data privacy are among the multifaceted issued which must be sorted out. Other challenges range from human resource issues to lack of awareness to need to address ethical issues in AI based innovations, to cyber security issues, lack of infrastructure, besides the high cost of investing in AI based innovations. Several policy mechanisms and regulatory frameworks are being brought out to address these challenges via NITI Aayog Towards Responsible #AIforAll. The article concludes on the fact that AI in healthcare can potentially change the landscape if done right.