May 7, 2025

Foresight AI – Groundbreaking AI trained on de-identified patient data predicts healthcare needs

Foresight is an artificial intelligence model that’s being trained on de-identified data from 57 million people in England to predict future health risks and help improve healthcare – a UK first. By learning from patient data on a national scale, this research holds potential for predictive healthcare by aiming to identify groups of people who may be at high risk and opening a window of opportunity to intervene earlier, saving and transforming lives.

Journalists came to this SMC Briefing to hear experts discuss the context and impact of this innovative technology, including:

• How does Foresight work and what might it be able to predict about future health risks?
• How is it being trained on NHS data?
• What are the potential benefits for patients and healthcare professionals?
• How can patients be reassured that their data is safe?
• How could this technology be used to address healthcare inequalities and support NHS planning?
• What are the next steps for Foresight AI in healthcare?

Speakers included:

Dr Chris Tomlinson, UK Health Data & AI Lead at LifeArc and Honorary Senior Research Fellow, University College London

Prof Angela Wood, Professor of Health Data Science, Associate Director and Theme Lead for Structured Data for the BHF Data Science Centre

Dr Michael Chapman, Director of Data Access & Partnerships, NHS England

This Briefing was accompanied by an SMC Roundup of comments.