The UK is planning to leverage its NHS to improve its cancer diagnosis procedures, by combining its vast array of data with AI-based technologies to spot early signs of cancer. Combining medical records with population data, the hope is to prevent 20,000 cancer-related deaths annually, by 2023. It’s ambitious, but the UK is well-placed in such projects. Critics will argue that the current government’s economic austerity policies and its budget cuts to the regional NHS trusts are a bigger hindrance than a lack of AI, and that it should look to rectify those aspects before trying something shiny and new. Nevertheless, prime minister Theresa May has called for the NHS, the emerging AI sector, and health charities to collaborate –…