Precision or Peril: How is AI reshaping personalised medicine?

In the age of digital transformation, healthcare is undergoing a seismic shift from generalised treatment to precision care. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of this evolution, enabling medicine to be tailored to the individual. But while the potential is enormous, so are the risks. 

One size fits all – outdated and costly 

Traditional medicine often relies on standardised treatment plans. But what works for one patient may be ineffective or even harmful for another, and the old trial and error approach can delay recovery and drive up costs for healthcare providers and patients. 

AI is changing that. By analysing genetic data, AI can predict how a person is likely to respond to specific drugs. This is especially valuable in fields like oncology, cardiology, and psychiatry, where treatment outcomes can vary widely. The result? Fewer adverse reactions, more effective therapies, and better patient outcomes. 

Our Digital Health and Wellness survey undertaken in 2024^[1] results underscores this shift to the use of AI with 92% of Canadian healthcare companies surveyed planning to increase their use of generative AI, and 85% focusing on AI for diagnosis and treatment. 

Beyond DNA 

Personalised medicine is evolving – it’s not just about genetics anymore.

AI is harnessing data from wearables to reveal insights into diet, exercise habits, and environmental exposures, building a 360-degree view of individual health. It’s analysing electronic health records, lab results, and imaging to create dynamic, real-time health profiles that help clinicians move from reactive treatment to proactive prevention.

For patients, this means more tailored care. For public health systems, it means smarter resource allocation and reduced strain.

AI is also sharpening diagnostic accuracy in radiology and lab testing by detecting patterns and anomalies that might escape the human eye. It’s enabling personalised chronic disease management – like diabetes and heart disease – through remote monitoring and predictive analytics. And it’s even mapping the gut microbiome to customise nutrition and supplements for optimal metabolic health.

Innovation = risk 

The possibilities aren’t just expanding, they’re accelerating. But so too are the risks.

AI in healthcare creates some serious concerns. Patients must be able to trust that their data is secure and used ethically, especially given the deeply sensitive nature of health information. Privacy and consent aren’t just technical issues, they’re foundational to patient confidence.

And healthcare data is a prime target for cyber criminals, who seek to steal, sell, or use it as leverage for extortion. And while AI has a role in defence, it also enables offensive capabilities — and has been used to extract highly sensitive data.

It’s therefore unsurprising that our Digital Health and Wellness research revealed that 37% of healthcare practitioners surveyed in Canada ranked cyber risk as a top risk.

Algorithmic bias is also a growing concern in healthcare AI. When systems are trained on non-diverse datasets, they risk delivering unequal care across gender, race, and age groups, leading to misdiagnoses or ineffective treatments for underrepresented populations. This isn’t just a theoretical issue: our survey found that 79% of Canadian firms are concerned about bias in AI.

New risk landscape 

Healthcare organisations are now facing a new type of risk, one that cuts across cyber threats, operational resilience, board-level accountability, and ethical responsibility. This is where insurance can step in. As AI becomes more embedded in clinical decision-making, the need for specialised coverage grows. 

For healthcare organisations, the challenge is to harness the power of AI responsibly and to manage the risks it creates responsibly.

For the insurance industry, the opportunity lies in helping our healthcare clients to navigate this new frontier, understand the full spectrum of risk, and ensure that they have appropriate and suitably tailored insurance protection in place.

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[1] https://www.beazley.com/en-001/news-and-events/spotlight-on-digital-health-wellness-2024/methodology—spotlight-on-digital-health-and-wellness-2024/