Artificial intelligence (AI) tools aimed at improving health gained momentum in 2025, offering opportunities to personalize medical care, accelerate diagnoses, facilitate the discovery of new medications, and more.
In Finland, AI is being utilized to train health workers, while Estonia applies it for medical data analysis, and Spain focuses on using AI for disease detection.
However, studies suggest that AI should not replace healthcare professionals in the near future. Doctors continue to excel over AI in emergency situations, and AI chatbots face challenges in addressing mental health concerns and may inadvertently spread medical misinformation.
There are significant safety concerns as well, with experts warning that extremists might exploit AI technologies to develop bioweapons that could lead to future pandemics.
Despite these issues, AI increasingly integrates into healthcare. Here are five ways it has impacted health and well-being in Europe this year.
1. Predicting health risks
Researchers developed an AI model capable of predicting over 1,000 medical conditions—including certain cancers, heart attacks, and diabetes—more than a decade before formal diagnosis. Although not yet ready for practical application in clinics, this tool could help researchers understand disease progression over time.
Additionally, new AI tools were introduced this year to assess whether rare genetic mutations will lead to illness, forecast women’s heart health risks through mammograms, and identify biomarkers of chronic stress using routine medical scans.
2. Speeding disease diagnosis
An AI assistant named Prof. Valmed received certification in Europe this year to assist doctors with diagnosis and treatment, leveraging extensive patient medical data. Other diagnostic tools are also emerging. In the UK, researchers found an AI-powered stethoscope that can detect heart conditions in just 15 seconds. Although the stethoscope was overly sensitive—flagging two-thirds of patients who did not have heart failure—it successfully identified genuine heart issues that might have gone unnoticed.
In another UK initiative, doctors are using AI to expedite prostate cancer diagnoses, analyzing medical imaging scans to prioritize high-risk patients for immediate review by radiologists.
3. Monitoring patients after operations
A team in Germany employed AI to automate monitoring for patients who have undergone procedures to implant coronary stents in blocked blood vessels. This automated process can improve the healing tracking efficiency and accuracy, offering comparable performance to expert clinicians. The tool aims to standardize stent monitoring and enhance heart health.
4. Fighting antibiotic resistance
AI is being leveraged to combat antibiotic-resistant superbugs, which represent a growing public health threat in Europe. Over the next three years, scientists plan to develop an AI model to create and test new treatments for drug-resistant bacteria, while also examining how the immune system reacts to different bacterial types in pursuit of effective vaccines.
5. Freeing up doctors from admin work
Healthcare facilities across Europe are implementing AI tools to manage administrative tasks, such as note-taking and referrals, allowing doctors to spend more time with patients amid growing staff shortages and heightened pressure. For instance, Microsoft introduced its AI clinical assistant in Ireland this year, and Sweden’s Tandem Health launched its AI-powered medical scribe in various European countries, including Spain, Germany, the UK, and Finland, with operations also in the Netherlands, Norway, and Denmark.
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