ChatGPT is revolutionary and, despite its flaws, may still be the next big thing in healthcare, above all in India where the existing health system is deficient, but many elements of ChatGPT still need more rigorous vetting before it deploys in a regulated healthcare environment.

As 2023 gets underway, AI-related innovation in health tech companies is likely to be as affected by war, inflation, energy shortages, and available funding as by tech advances. Consolidation is likely, which may reduce competition, though even if trendy startups and eye-catching but risky ventures struggle, ‘boring’ innovation that often flies under the radar will continue to rack up successes. Harvard fellow Dr Rohitashva Agrawal explains.

Now synonymous with cryptocurrency, blockchain also has key applications in healthcare, from securing data, to tailoring treatments to individual patients. Dr Rohitashva Agrawal foresees vast changes on the horizon from the tech’s growing deployment in medicine.

Much has been made of the Metaverse and its potential for change, and this is certainly so in healthcare. Amid all the hype, it is important to take a look at what the Metaverse actually is and what is now possible as this gives insights into which aspects have the most success, which have not, and what the future of the Metaverse in medicine and other fields is.

Applications for reimbursement of AI-related healthcare costs are arduous and time-consuming, a huge burden that disproportionately affects startups and other small firms. Accelerated adoption of new technology spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic may at last be about to change this situation.

Hurdles to digitalizing pathology are falling, even in developing nations. Competition and innovation keep cutting the costs of digitalization, which the pandemic has hastened, and its benefits outweigh brief hiccups from one-off shifts to the new technology, as Dr Rohitashva Agrawal explains.

Drawbacks aside, India will benefit from the vast potential of its medical data. The data of the country home to one-sixth of humanity form a force that must be harnessed for the betterment of its healthcare, urges Dr Rohitashva Agrawal in his contribution to The Yuan’s Open Data 2022 series that commemorates the 110th anniversary of Alan Turing’s birth.

Health apps have proliferated of late, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but their quality and reliability is often uneven. Data security and user privacy laws have also lagged. Regulation must keep pace as health-tracking and other emerging technologies continue developing. Dr Rohitashva Agrawal wonders whether the world is up to the challenge.

Recent advances in digital pathology are an opportunity for India to become a world leader. Digitization and automation are critical in helping India overcome its shortage of specialized medical professionals, especially in rural areas, and make more efficient use of the ones it has. Can India use the advantages of a huge population, growing middle class, and vast pools of data to leapfrog other countries?