Generative AI in Practice

14CRAFTING TOMORROW: AI IN DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

GenAI is poised to revolutionize the design, research, and product development processes by injecting advanced computational power and creativity into these traditionally human-centric domains. Drug development is a super-interesting and leading-edge application of GenAI, so this chapter will kick off with a look at how GenAI will shape the drug therapies of the future. We'll then explore the concept of generative design, and see how GenAI can help design all manner of products. And we'll finish up with a brief look at digital twins and academic research. There's a lot to cover in this chapter, so let's get started.

Generative AI in Drug Discovery

For me, drug discovery is an area that perfectly demonstrates the transformative power of GenAI. The process of bringing a new drug to market is long and eye-wateringly expensive. It can take up to 15 years from starting the discovery process to the point at which a drug is approved for sale – and 9 out of 10 drugs that enter clinical trials never make it to the approval stage. No wonder the cost of bringing a new drug to market can reach US$2.5 billion, once you account for the cost of both successful and failed programs.¹ GenAI may help to speed up the drug discovery phase, thereby helping to get drugs to the clinical trial phase more quickly (and with less money spent).

How GenAI is accelerating the search for new drugs

To get an overview of GenAI's role in drug discovery, I ...