How AI is Transforming Healthcare in Africa Q & A with Dr Jacques Ludik
Q: How is AI and machine learning transforming healthcare? Healthcare is a sector where AI has endless possibilities, from user-friendly bots and chatbots assisting patients in their health diagnosis to robots performing operations with precision. AI is currently used in the healthcare industry to identify high-risk patient groups, predict diseases, increase speed and accuracy of treatment and to automate diagnostic tests. AI has huge potential to improve drug formulations, predictive care, and DNA analysis that has the power to positively impact the quality of healthcare and affect human lives. Healthcare is also one of the key industries for Cortex Logic with productized solutions such as AI Risk Assessment for Hospital Benefit Management as well as Healthcare companies within Cortex Logic’s portfolio such as Mosaic, providing AI-based Precision Medicine for Oncology, SynerG, a Healthcare Data & Analytics Platform for Africa, and Foster, a AI-based psychosocially tuned therapeutic chatbot companion. Q: What are some of the prohibitive barriers to AI adoption in Africa? Are they the same as developed countries? Although Artificial Intelligence in Africa is on a roll and there is a realization amongst most South African business executives that they need to boost their organization’s competitiveness by innovating through investments in AI technologies, the reality in South Africa is that there is much planning, investment and policymaking required before local businesses and decision makers can properly leverage this transformative technology. For any South African business to stay relevant and thrive given the swift pace of change and disruption in the Smart Technology Era (4th Industrial Revolution), it needs to be transformed into a smart-data-driven business and have increasingly more real-time intelligence on all
Q: A shortage of skilled healthcare professionals is a problem facing just about every country. How do you think AI can help to alleviate that, especially in Africa? As smart technology such as AI makes it possible to provide more cost-efective services and scale with limited resources, it is strongly recommended that we combine healthcare and smart technology skills, knowledge and resources to develop and roll-out relevant healthcare related services for the African continent. It is an opportunity to leapfrog and provide impactful and cost-effective solutions that can also be rolled out internationally. AI can also be used to accelerate and improve higher quality education in healthcare and smart technology with more personalized and relevant content and guidance. South Africa also needs to fundamentally shift its thinking about AI and strategically plan to create a vibrant ecosystem where AI flourishes. Corporate South Africa will need to work with public institutions, educators and leaders to create a comprehensive long-term vision of the role of AI in the country’s economic development. Machine Intelligence Institute of Africa (MIIA) is an innovative community and accelerator for Machine Intelligence and Data Science Research and Applications to help transform Africa. MIIA aims to achieve this by networking together the critical mass of resources, promote and sponsor learning activities, and strengthen scientific and technological excellence, mentoring and collaboration on the continent. A core focus of MIIA’s activities is to accelerate and deliver breakthrough Machine Intelligence and Data Science research and practical applications to solve African problems, support entrepreneurial activity, and help drive longterm inclusive and sustainable scientific, technological and socioeconomic development on the continent. For maximum impact, MIIA is working with a range of partners where there is synergy with MIIA’s vision and mission and includes other nonprofit organizations, universities, research organizations, startup incubators, business and government organizations.
4TH QUARTER 2018
Cortex Logic is an AI software and solutions company that provides an AI Engine for Business to solves strategic and operationally relevant problems through operationalizing Data Science, Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data & Analytics and delivering state-of-the-art AI-based applications, solutions and products. Cortex Logic helps platform businesses, corporates and organizations to thrive by operationalizing AI and unlocking the value from all available structured and unstructured data, all in support of its mission to help shape a better future in the Smart Technology Era.
aspects of its internal operations, customer needs and impact, and competitive and collaborative forces in the ecosystem in which the business operates. Businesses that are dissatisfied with their speed and/ or inability to unlock value from AI and solve strategic and operationally relevant problems, should collaborate with AI / Smart Technology partners such as Cortex Logic that can help them to accelerate the operationalization of AI solutions. Some of the problems that many businesses face include not having access to people with AI and data science related skills, struggling to attract top talent and cultivating the best possible environment for the top talent, having business divisions that are operating in silos, not having a solid, scalable data infrastructure and smart data layers to enable rapid access to all data for analytics, and not having the ability to integrate AI solutions into business workflows, processes and customer facing channels. Compared to the developed world, South African businesses in general also do not have high quality data streams. In addition to driving awareness of AI and skills training within the fields of data science and analytics, local businesses also have to ensure that they create and enforce strong policies around internal data storage and data protection.
29 SYNAPSE
Q: Tell us a bit about your background and role at Cortex Logic. Dr Jacques Ludik is a smart technology entrepreneur, Artificial Intelligence (AI) expert, investor and ecosystem builder with a Ph.D. in Computer Science (AI) and 25+ years’ experience in AI & Data Science and its applications. He is currently, amongst other roles, the Founder & CEO of Cortex Logic and Founder & President of the Machine Intelligence Institute of Africa (MIIA) and has also founded Bennit.AI, The Talent Index, Mosaic, SynerG and CSense Systems (Africa’s first AI company that was sold to a multi-national company, specifically General Electric in 2011). Apart from his executive management responsibilities in these companies, he was previously Vice President Data Science & Chief Data Officer at Jumo, Director and Big Data & Analytics Leader at General Electric and Senior Lecturer & Researcher at Stellenbosch University.