Mentioning the word “AI” in conversation these days will likely earn you some mixed reactions, whether it’s among family, friends, or strangers.
Thanks to the news cycle, many see AI as a threat that will take away our livelihoods and take the soul out of art due to image generation services like ChatGPT. Others are grappling with the problems AI can cause in classrooms as students increasingly lean on ChatGPT to get their assignments done.Â
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It’s a strange time in the world, and many are not sure what to expect in the next 10 years. Those prone to paranoia may even hate AI without fully understanding what it can do (and all the things it can do is a long, complex list, indeed).
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And while you’re much more likely to click on negative sentiment about AI, that’s not the end of the story. There’s also a lot of positive news about the technology’s capabilities, if you know where to look.
Cathie Wood, ARK Invest founder and CEO, just pointed out one of the most hopeful things about AI’s potential, and it’s well worth considering. If you need a break from worrying about whether AI will steal your job, you might want to hear what Wood has to say.
Cathie Wood calls this AI application ‘profound’
On April 13, Wood reshared a tweet from ARK Invest strategist Charles Campbell Roberts where he discusses an exciting change on the way from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“Big FDA news: as per ARK’s Big Ideas, AI will play a huge role speeding therapies to patients,” Roberts wrote. “FDA said yesterday that animal testing will be phased out in favour of AI modelling & lab tests incl. organs-on-chips. We hope directionally this move will benefit humans and animals alike!”
Related: Cathie Wood buys $9 million of tumbling tech stock amid tariff crash
According to a Nature Reviews Methods Primers article, organs-on-chips technology uses engineered or natural human tissues grown inside microfluidic chips to mimic the function of human organs.
Wood added her own notes to the post, saying, “Counter to rumors that it is in disarray, the FDA is changing regulations to help streamline the drug development process with #AI. In our view, some of the most profound applications of AI will be in health care.”
Commenters were pleased to read Roberts’ news, with X user PCH saying, “This is really encouraging to see. AI-assisted drug discovery could dramatically reduce the time and cost of bringing new treatments to patients who desperately need them. The FDA’s proactive approach here is a big step forward.”
ARK Invest’s holdings reflect this belief, with its fifth-largest holding in AI and data analytics company Palantir Technologies, or 6.86% of its portfolio.
Animal testing could be eliminated
Animal testing has long been a source of controversy, with as many as 110 million animals killed every year due to the practice, according to PETA. The animals are sacrificed in laboratories for a variety of reasons, including medical training, biology lessons, cosmetics testing, chemical testing, and drug testing.
For decades, activists have sought to expose the animal abuse that happens behind the scenes, but many choose to look the other way. However, organs-on-chips technology could offer a solution. It would address the high failure rates associated with animal testing, while also saving the lives of millions of animals per year.
