Artificial intelligence empowers the innovation of traditional Chinese medicine

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is advancing rapidly with algorithms and models for diverse applications, such as virtual disease biologist agents, target and drug discovery, and multimodal diagnosis and treatment, emerging at an increasingly rapid pace. The development and application of AI can effectively address long-standing challenges in the research and application of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), including the difficulty of mining classic texts, insufficient standardization of diagnosis and treatment, and lengthy drug development cycles. This creates new opportunities for the development of TCM and further propels its transition from empirical medicine to precision medicine. To seize the opportunities presented by AI development, it is necessary to build a tripartite innovation system centered on "data-algorithms-computing power," to establish a research paradigm suited to the characteristics of TCM, and to achieve a deep integration of traditional wisdom with modern technology, thereby driving high-quality development of the TCM industry. Please cite this article as: Chen KX. Artificial intelligence empowers the innovation of traditional Chinese medicine. J Integr Med. 2026; 24(4):467-470.