Markus Lingman: AI will enable faster development of new drugs 

Markus Lingman is the Chief Medical Officer and strategist from Region Halland who in 2020 was named AI Swede of the Year for his successful work in makingAI technology in healthcare. I TechSweden's interview series Focus: AI he gives his view on AI-developments and what is needed to responsibly harnessing AI-technology's full potential going forward.

- Much has happened in the field of AI in a short period of time, including the ubiquity of large-scale language models and the availability of AI to a wider audience. "I'm currently at Stanford in an area where there is a lot of activity around new products and services based on AI. We are also seeing this in Sweden," says Markus Lingman.

He emphasizes that the AI toolbox is no longer something that raises eyebrows on the research side:

- Now they want to see that it creates real value. What many struggle with is the final implementation step. However, in the world of X-rays, for example, they have come a long way in terms of implementation.

What do you think will be the next big leap forward and in which area will it be applied first?

The big leap in socially critical activities, such as healthcare, energy and transportation, will probably happen when we understand how we should relate to AI from a regulatory perspective. Legislation is in the pipeline, but before it is in place, we will be able to see how AI, for example, has contributed to significantly faster development of new drugs.

Markus Lingman also comments on the ongoing debate and the petition in which several prominent people in AI are calling for a temporary pause in development.

- Getting the whole world to agree on a pause would probably be difficult. As with COVID-19, many people have entered this debate without knowing much about AI. My hope is that the major players, such as the US, the EU and China, will soon arrive at balanced and matching regulation that provides certainty and transparency.

When asked what it takes to harness the potential of AI in a responsible way, he says that knowledge is the key:

- We also need a nuanced public debate about what we really want with these powerful tools. Ignorance creates fear, and this fear also holds back the development we probably want to see together.