AI-Biological Intelligence Convergence Can Transform Healthcare: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
New Delhi: The convergence of biological intelligence and artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to a paradigm shift in medicine and lead to breakthroughs in predictive healthcare, regenerative science and lifespan management, Biocon Chairman Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said on Friday.
“Biology alone has been limited in generating deeper insights, but AI tools offer invaluable opportunities for understanding living systems,” Mazumdar-Shaw said while speaking at the AI Impact Summit here. he said.
He noted that biological systems operate like distributed data centers, processing information with minimal energy compared to gigawatt-powered artificial intelligence systems.
“Biology has a lot to teach AI about how to do this with less energy, how to do it quickly, and how to replicate multimodal data very quickly,” he said.
Mazumdar-Shaw described reprogramming cells, such as transforming malignant cancer cells into non-malignant ones, as the ‘holy grail’ of medicine.
He said AI could accelerate regenerative science and help healthcare transition from hospital-centric models to predictive and preventive community care.
He emphasized the importance of intergenerational learning embedded in DNA, citing examples such as migratory birds with navigational intelligence.
“You cannot have deep insights into biology without artificial intelligence. The future will be defined by this convergence,” he added.
On data sharing, Mazumdar-Shaw noted that reluctance to share information globally creates silos, but India’s open digital public infrastructure offers a unique advantage.
“India is uniquely positioned with its open networks. If we can continue to generate data and reduce the cost of inference through economies of scale, then you have a winning formula,” he said.
Mazumdar-Shaw said the convergence of artificial intelligence and biology will be a powerful transformative process and India is well positioned to lead this global change.
