{"id":2215,"date":"2021-01-11T18:59:27","date_gmt":"2021-01-11T18:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/?p=1333666"},"modified":"2021-01-11T18:59:27","modified_gmt":"2021-01-11T18:59:27","slug":"scientists-use-supercomputers-and-ai-to-determine-how-good-or-deadly-your-street-drugs-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=2215","title":{"rendered":"Scientists use supercomputers and AI to determine how good (or deadly) your street drugs are"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A team of researchers from the University of Victoria have developed an AI system capable of determining the expected chemical makeup of drugs. While it involves supercomputers and a robust cocktail of cloud-based machine learning technologies, the ultimate goal is to make it dead-simple for just about anyone to tell what\u2019s in their drugs.<\/p>\n

Approximately 70,000 deaths<\/a> from drug overdose are recorded annually in the US alone. While the causes are both myriad and systemic, a significant number of these tragedies could potentially be avoided if consumers knew what was in their drugs.<\/p>\n

The issue relates to those who take both \u2018legal\u2019 prescription drugs under the care and advisement of properly-licensed medical professional and those who abuse prescription drugs or use so-called \u2018street\u2019 drugs.<\/p>\n

[Read next: Meet the 4 scale-ups using data to save the planet<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n

According to a report<\/a> from Ken Strandberg in Technology Networks\u2019 Informatics, the project came about to address concerns over things such as fentanyl levels in opioids and inconsistencies in the unregulated prescription drug markets.<\/p>\n

When most laypersons think about drug testing, they\u2019re probably imagining something like a urine sample or a hair test. But drug \u2018checking\u2019 is used to determine what\u2019s in a drug itself. Typically, we have to take a drug maker at their word. When big pharma tells us what\u2019s in our pills, we pretty much have to believe it.<\/p>\n

And the same goes for the so-called \u2018street\u2019 drug market. Without a laboratory and some dedicated equipment it\u2019s virtually impossible for someone to determine what\u2019s actually in the molly, MDMA, or other drugs people are taking.<\/p>\n

The big idea here is to ultimately develop a system for medical professionals \u2013 such as pharmacists \u2013 to quickly and accurately determine what\u2019s actually in the drugs they issue. But the scientists also want to see their work made available to the general public.<\/p>\n

Strandberg\u2019s piece quotes Dennis Hore, a member of the University of Victoria team:<\/p>\n

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A recently funded project seeks to build an interactive kiosk, where people can bring their samples for analysis, and the computer provides guidance based on science, without gender or race bias or bias based on their answers to questions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dirty drugs, whether prescription or \u2018street,\u2019 are responsible for untold deaths. A system that can quickly and easily determine what\u2019s in your drugs could be an incredible game-changer, but shrinking a laboratory down to kiosk size is no simple task.<\/p>\n

Where normal drug analysis involves physical chemistry \u2013 with machines and beakers and so forth \u2013 the Victoria team\u2019s system relies on a robust cocktail of AI, machine learning, and supercomputers to make \u2018surface\u2019 inferences. The reason for this is simple: we can\u2019t put a glass beaker or a centrifuge on the internet, but we can use cloud compute to put supercomputer-based AI online.<\/p>\n

Quick take:<\/strong> The researchers are using brute force here, and not just because the supercomputer they\u2019re using (called Arbutus 2) has 1,000s of Intel Xeon processors. The AI powering the analysis uses a kitchen sink approach involving several different types of AI and ML paradigms. This, according to the team, makes it possible for the system to determine both known quantities and completely novel drug compounds.<\/p>\n

In much the same way that laboratory testing helps to protect pharmacies and their patients from \u2018bad batches\u2019 and needle exchange programs help protect addicts from disease, this AI system could serve as a new, powerful form of protection for drug users.<\/p>\n

Published January 11, 2021 \u2014 18:59 UTC <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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