19/09/2025

BIZ & FINANCE FRIDAY | SEPT 19, 2025

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AI model able to predict future illnesses

PARIS: Scientists said on Wednesday that they had created an AI model able to predict medical diagnoses years in advance, building on the same technology behind consumer chatbots like ChatGPT. Based on a patient’s case history, the Delphi-2M AI “predicts the rates of more than 1,000 diseases” years into the future, the team from British, Danish, German and Swiss institutions wrote in a paper published in the journal Nature. Researchers trained the model on data from Britain’s UK Biobank – a large-scale biomedical research database with details on about half a million participants. Neural networks based on so-called “transformer” architecture – the “T” in “ChatGPT” – most famously tackle language-based tasks, as in the chatbot and its many imitators and competitors. But understanding a sequence of medical o But scientists stress that Delphi-2M not ready for use, needs further testing

Artificial intelligence may boost global trade value by nearly 40%: WTO GENEVA: Artificial intelligence could boost the value of global trade by almost 40% by 2040 thanks to cost reductions and productivity gains, the World Trade Organisation said on Wednesday. In its latest annual World Trade Report , the WTO identified AI as one of the few bright spots as the global trading system has been upended by the United States slapping high tariffs on its trading partners. “AI holds major promise to boost trade by lowering trade costs and reshaping the production of goods and services,” WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said while presenting the report. She said WTO simulations suggest AI could increase exports of goods and services by nearly 40% above current trends. However, much like the technology threatens to disrupt labour markets, a lack of proper policies could see lower income countries miss out on the opportunities. “One important question is whether AI will lift opportunities for all, or whether it will deepen existing inequalities and exclusion,” Okonjo-Iweala said. If lower-income economies fail to bridge the digital divide, WTO economists calculate they would see only an 8% gain in incomes by 2040, far below the 14% gain in higher-income economies. However, if they narrow the digital infrastructure gap by 50% and adopt AI more widely they could match the gains in higher-income countries. “With the right mix of trade, investment and complementary policies, artificial intelligence can create new growth opportunities in all economies,” Okonjo-Iweala said. At the same time, the WTO found that countries are applying more restrictions on the trade of AI-related goods. Nearly 500 restrictions were in place last year, mostly by higher- and medium-income economies. That compares to 130 restrictions in 2012. – AFP “Interpretable” or “explainable” AI is one of the top research goals in the field, as the full inner workings of many large AI models currently remain mysterious even to their creators. – AFP computer tools to predict risk of disease, such as the QRISK3 programme that British family doctors use to assess the danger of heart attack or stroke. Delphi-2M, by contrast, “can do all diseases at once and over a long time period”, said co author Ewan Birney. Gustavo Sudre, a King’s College London professor specialising in medical AI, commented that the research “looks to be a significant step towards scalable, interpretable and – most importantly – ethically responsible predictive modelling”.

testing and was not yet ready for clinical use. “This is still a long way from improved healthcare as the authors acknowledge that both (British and Danish) datasets are biased in terms of age, ethnicity and current healthcare outcomes,” commented health technology researcher Peter Bannister, a fellow at Britain’s Institution of Engineering and Technology. But in future systems like Delphi-2M could help “guide the monitoring and possibly earlier clinical interventions for effectively a preventative type of medicine”, Gerstung said. On a larger scale, such tools could help with “optimisation of resources across a stretched healthcare system”, European Molecular Biology Laboratory co-author Tom Fitzgerald said. Doctors in many countries already use

diagnoses is “a bit like learning the grammar in a text”, German Cancer Research Centre AI expert Moritz Gerstung told journalists. Delphi-2M “learns the patterns in healthcare data, preceding diagnoses, in which combinations they occur and in which succession”, he said, enabling “very meaningful and health-relevant predictions”. Gerstung presented charts suggesting the AI could single out people at far higher or lower risk of suffering a heart attack than their age and other factors would predict. The team verified Delphi-2M’s performance by testing it against data from almost two million people in Denmark’s public health database. But Gerstung and fellow team members stressed that the Delphi-2M tool needed further

EU says India’s Russia links jeopardise closer ties Kallas and Sefcovic holding a press conference in Brussels, Belgium. – REUTERSPIC

raised tariffs on most Indian exports to 50% last month in retaliation for New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil. In the wake of that move, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi put on a public show of warmth with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping at a summit this month. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen insisted in a post on X that “now is the time to double down on partnerships” as she reiterated the hope of finalising the trade deal by the end of this year. But her trade chief Maros Sefcovic sounded a downbeat note as well as he said he had “hoped for more progress to be achieved” during a visit to India last week. He stressed though that it was important to deepen EU ties with different countries, otherwise “this void is filled by China and other actors”. The EU is India’s largest trading partner, with trade between the two economic giants up 90% over the past decade, Sefcovic said alongside Kallas in Brussels. – AFP

India has taken part in Russia’s Zapad (West) joint drills with Belarus this month, part of which took place close to NATO borders. India became a major buyer of Russian oil – saving itself billions of dollars and providing a much-needed export market for Moscow after it was cut off from traditional buyers in Europe because of the Ukraine war. US President Donald Trump last week pushed the EU to slap hefty tariffs on India and China to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war. But EU diplomats say that is unlikely while Brussels chases a trade deal with New Delhi, although it could take steps against Russian entities in India as in a previous sanctions package against Moscow. Despite a lack of alignment over Russia, the European Union and India are also working to conclude talks on a free trade agreement by the end of 2025, amid New Delhi’s own tensions with Washington. US-India ties have been strained since Trump

BRUSSELS: The European Union’s top diplomat warned on Wednesday that its push for closer ties with India could be hampered by New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil and involvement in military drills with Moscow. The 27-nation bloc is pressing to seal a trade deal with the world’s most populous nation and strengthen bonds in areas like defence as US President Donald Trump has rocked the global order. “Ultimately, our partnership is not only about trade, but also about defending the rules-based international order,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, as she unveiled a new strategy from Brussels to bolster relations. “Participating in military exercises, purchases of oil – all these are obstacles to our cooperation when it comes to deepening the ties,“ Kallas said. But she acknowledged the EU did not believe India would “completely decouple” from Russia and the two sides sought to talk through their issues. Alongside other Moscow allies including Iran,