If you had to choose one word to sum up the benefits of AI in healthcare, it just might be “versatility.”

Clinical care, research, drug development, supply chain management, even how medical facilities are being designed and built; these and many other aspects of healthcare increasingly stand to be changed by the introduction of AI.

Out of the UK, for example, comes a look at how an alliance of healthcare charities is teaming up with a digital enterprise to develop the UK’s first AI-based coaching tool for patients living with long-term health conditions. 

According to an article in a Scottish publication, “Reason Digital is teaming up with Parkinson’s UK, the Stroke Association, Muscular Dystrophy UK and the MS Society to develop the project, which is set to transform the way medical advice and information is delivered to almost 500,000 people in the UK.”

The tool, dubbed a “Digital Health Assistant (DHA)”,  will use machine learning to develop an initial understanding of the person being supported as well as continuously adapting to user needs based on repeated interactions, which will in turn allow the “DHA to provide emailed content and support specific to the individual’s needs, making it more effective than current alternatives.”

Said one of the DHA’s testers, a woman living with Parkinson’s, ““I’ve found there’s an ongoing process of coming to terms with the condition. The DHA trial was a real eye-opener, I liked the idea of receiving weekly bite-sized tips and this influenced me to find new ways to slow the condition down. I discovered specially designed exercises for those with Parkinson’s such as PD Warrior, which helps improve functionality and prolong quality of life. The weekly classes I attend are motivating, run by neuro physios and help correct posture and strengthen your core.”

According to another tester, who is also living with Parkinson’s, “When it’s developed DHA will be a reliable and relevant portal that’s efficient and accessible. It will act as a gatekeeper that can be accessed at any time online, so users won’t have to spend hours researching from unofficial sources online.”

Matt Haworth, the co-founder of Reason Digital, the tool’s developer, understands that “there’s a lot of fear around the implications of AI for society, (but) the reality is that whether it empowers us or oppresses us simply depends on who’s using it. That’s why with DHA, we’re putting the power of AI in the hands of people who need support for their long-term health conditions.”

The bottom line for the four charities is the hope the tool “will dramatically improve the quality of practical and emotional care on offer to individuals following a diagnosis and, longer-term, support them in successfully managing their condition.”