AI is already making a difference in healthcare through robotic surgery, advanced diagnostics and medical imaging, as well as analysis of patient data, but has the potential to penetrate much deeper into the fabric of healthcare – according to several recent reports published in the US and Europe. The most recent report from the UK Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), featuring Lord Darzi, a surgeon and ex-health minister, is the most strident – with its assertion that widespread of AI-based automation across all departments of the country’s National Health Service (NHS) could liberate staff time worth £12.5 billion ($17 billion) a year to spend with patients. This in turn would have a knock-on effect on health through the placebo…