September 11, 2024

expert reaction to AstraZeneca’s new AI technology MILTON that claims to predict >1,000 diseases before diagnosis

A study published in Nature Genetics looks at AstraZeneca’s AI tool that could predict up to 1000 diseases before diagnosis. 

Prof Dusko Ilic, Professor of Stem Cell Sciences, King’s College London (KCL), said:

“I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to the research team for the development of MILTON, which represents a significant step forward in the field of predictive medicine. The potential to predict over 1,000 diseases before diagnosis is a remarkable achievement, one that could greatly benefit patients by enabling earlier intervention, more personalized treatments, and reducing healthcare costs.

“However, while MILTON’s capabilities are impressive, I have some concerns regarding its ethical use. The powerful predictive abilities of this tool could, if unregulated, be misused by health insurance companies or employers to assess individuals without their knowledge or consent. This could lead to discrimination and a breach of privacy. Therefore, it is essential that the use of such systems be carefully regulated to protect individuals’ rights and ensure that they are not subjected to unwarranted evaluations. Strict guidelines and oversight will be critical in ensuring that the benefits of MILTON are realized in an ethical and responsible manner.”

Prof Tim Frayling, Professor of Human Genetics, University of Geneva, said:

“This is a very thorough study of many diseases and their risk factors. However we need to take care when claiming we can “predict disease” when we really mean “we can give you a slightly better idea of your chances of developing a disease but there are still many unknown factors.” Thus this approach will likely have more impact on improving our knowledge of how diseases develop rather than who exactly will develop them.”

‘Disease prediction with multi-omics and biomarkers empowers case-control genetic discoveries in UK Biobank’ by Manik Garg et al. was published in Nature Genetics at 10:00 BST Wednesday 11 September 2024.

Declared interests

Prof Ilic: No interests.

Prof Frayling: I have consulted for , and received funding from pharmaceutical companies including GSK, Sanofi and Boerhinger Ingelheim and i am part of a EU IMI initiative including many industry partners.