Medical industry a 'gold mine': investors

The medical industry is a “gold mine” for artificial intelligence adoption with the pandemic situation and huge volume of structured data, investors told a conference in Shanghai on Wednesday. 

Following the finance and advertising industries, it will be the most promising sector for AI adoption, Kaifu Lee, chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, told the ChinaVenture Investment Conference.  The sector covers data collection and analysis for medical treatment, insurance, nucleic acid detection, vaccine test and new data created by wearable gadgets and genetic sequencing. 

Lee, a scientist and investor, worked for Google and Microsoft before founding Sinovation.

China has various “race tracks” with urgent demands and wide market space, such as innovative medicine and integrated circuit industries, according to Shan Junbao,  president of the China Capital Investment Group.

About 72 percent of enterprise and organization leaders are speeding up digital transformation with data analytics and AI technologies, researcher Gartner said. 

Top Chinese AI firms such as SenseTime and Yitu have expanded into medical sectors to boost digital transformation of organizations and contribute for fight the spread of COVID-19.

“Core” technologies such as the cloud, chips and carbon neutrality are also hot sectors for investors in China, speakers told the conference attended by venture capital and private equity investors.

People should be cautious of risks of AI like big firms attempts to “control” users with data analysis and AI hackers threatening network security, Lee added.

The conference ends on Friday.