AI - many and very different areas of application in the pharmaceutical sciences

Artificial intelligence is a generic term for many concepts: Machines solve complex problems, the solution of which would be considered a feat of intelligence in humans. There are the special applications for describing and predicting substance properties that are used in medicinal chemistry. There is AlphaFold with impressive performance in assessing the 3D structure of proteins, and there are evaluation algorithms for complex analytical data, e.g. from imaging techniques or multidimensional mass spectrometry. There is also the more general application of AI as an assistant. ChatGPT has evolved considerably in version 4o (o as in “omni”). Already with version 4.0, we have seen some applications going mainstream. Many industries, travel and planning agencies, interior designers, furniture stores and DIY stores, use a chatbot as an additional service, and there are also examples in the pharmaceutical industry. Standard catalogs, for example for the new spring collection, are no longer created with photo models but with image AI. Marketing companies are already enjoying success on YouTube with virtual influencers. ChatGPT 4o now offers a range of additional options with the Advanced Data Analysis tool. The logical and computational capabilities of this system are already capable of passing exams in pharmacy studies. Now all areas of work that require intelligent solutions must ask themselves whether and to what extent artificial intelligence is an important support for their human teams, and whether their own team can afford to compete with others without AI.