Peer Exchange: Embracing AI in Pharma

Pharmaceutical Executive recently brought together a group of experts to discuss the current state of AI within the pharmaceutical industry. The technology has become a major talking point across all industries over the past year-and-a-half, but it has been around for much longer than that. The technology’s ability to collect, sort, analyze, and generate results from large data sets makes it especially interesting for the pharma industry, where experts often find themselves limited by the massive amounts of data they must work with.

The panel includes Ryan Abbott, MD, JD, MTOM, PhD, professor of law and health sciences at the University of Surrey School of Law; Thomas Lau, engagement lead at Quilt.AI; and Robert Wells, healthcare regulatory attorney, shareholder at Baker Donelson. Each expert brought their unique perspective to a wide-ranging conversation.

In the first part of our discussion, we covered the overall perception of AI and how this is impacting adoption. The technology can be used in any area of pharma, including drug development all the way up to marketing. Like any new technology, however, there is confusion surrounding what exactly it can do. There is also hesitation about how it should be used and where it makes sense to implement.

For example, AI has the ability to generate content, which can be very useful for marketing teams. However, these teams are also concerned that AI generated content won’t be as unique as traditionally created content. There are also concerns about the accuracy of AI’s results. While experts tend to agree that the technology should be considered a tool that’s used to improve workflows, the public perception is that it may ultimately become a replacement for humans.

The discussion also covers regulatory concerns. Lawmakers often struggle to keep up with new technology and truly understand what it does and is capable of. There’s always a risk that they’ll fall back on public perception when created rules and regulations. AI also comes with some unique challenges for lawmakers. Not only is it a new and complex technology that they may not fully understand, but it also requires immense amounts of data to work properly. Due to this, privacy concerns have been raised.