The prime minister has announced £100 million of funding for investment in AI in life sciences and healthcare.

The funding will be targeted towards areas where rapid deployment of AI has the greatest potential to create transformational breakthroughs in treatments for previously incurable diseases.

The Life Sciences Vision includes eight critical healthcare missions that government, industry, the NHS, academia and medical research charities will work together to solve, including cancer and dementia.

The AI Life Sciences Accelerator Mission will support this work by exploring how AI could address these conditions, which have some of the highest mortality and morbidity.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak said: "AI can help us solve some of the greatest social challenges of our time. AI could help find novel dementia treatments or develop vaccines for cancer.

"That’s why today we’re investing a further £100 million to accelerate the use of AI on the most transformational breakthroughs in treatments for previously incurable diseases.

Secretary of state for science, innovation and technology Michelle Donelan said: "This £100 million Mission will bring the UK’s unique strengths in secure health data and cutting-edge AI to bear on some of the most pressing health challenges facing the society.

"Safe, responsible AI will change the game for what it’s possible to do in healthcare, closing the gap between the discovery and application of innovative new therapies, diagnostic tools, and ways of working that will give clinicians more time with their patients."

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay