Opportunities for Artificial Intelligence in Operational Medicine: Lessons from the United States Military

Conducted in challenging environments such as disaster or conflict areas, operational medicine presents unique challenges for the delivery of efficient and quality healthcare. It exposes first responders and medical personnel to many unexpected health risks and dangerous situations. To tackle these issues, artificial intelligence (AI) has been progressively incorporated into operational medicine, both on the front lines and also more recently in support roles. The ability of AI to rapidly analyze high-dimensional data and make inferences has opened up a wide variety of opportunities and increased efficiency for its early adopters, notably for the United States military, for non-invasive medical imaging and for mental health applications. This review discusses the current state of AI and highlights its broad array of potential applications in operational medicine as developed for the United States military.