Can AI assist in discovering new life-saving drugs and treatments?
Reviewed by Jason Burns, Editorial Steward · Last updated
Yes — AI is already assisting drug discovery by predicting protein structures (AlphaFold), generating novel molecules, prioritizing targets, and accelerating clinical-trial design; several AI-discovered candidates are in human trials, though none is yet an approved therapy attributable to AI alone. As Google DeepMind, put it on the record: "AlphaFold is a once in a generation advance, predicting protein structures with atomic accuracy where no similar structure is known."
Source: deepmind.google/discover/blog/alphafold-a-solution-to-a-50-year-old-grand-challenge-in-biology/