There’s no denying Artificial Intelligence is suffering from a bit of an image problem right now, so it’s nice to hear it could soon be doing something positive for my crow’s feet.

When it comes to medical research, AI is changing the game of drug discovery and development, as well as finding new uses for existing generic drugs.

‘AI can turn a search that might take years into one that takes days,’ said Anthony Liveris, CEO of Proto Axiom, an Australian life-sciences venture capital firm.

Within the industry, it’s known as ‘in silico’, a reference to the silicon-based chips AI runs on, instead of the traditional ‘in vitro’ method.

And the potential for AI to solve some of the cosmetic industry’s toughest challenges is something that the peptide-promoting, sunscreen-slopping ‘looksmaxxers’ like me should probably pay attention to.

A recent survey of 80 biopharma leaders found that AI was compressing drug developers’ preclinical costs and timelines by as much as 70 per cent.

A good example is AlphaFold, an AI system developed by Google’s DeepMind that predicts the complex structure of proteins from their genetic sequences.

AlphaFold has revolutionised research in drug discovery, disease modelling, and biology, so much so that its creators were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

In a breakthrough study published last week in Nature Communications, researchers used AlphaFold to develop an enzyme that reversed molecular markers associated with ageing by up to 50 years.

To use an analogy – just as a steak browns in a hot pan, sugars and proteins in our bodies slowly react over time, creating the human equivalent of caramelisation.

Known by scientists as advanced glycation end-products (yes, the acronym AGE is not lost on me either), these compounds accumulate in collagen, contributing to the ageing process.

When tested on human skin of 75-year-old donors, the enzyme was able to reduce AGE levels down to those of a 30-year-old.

It’s proof of concept for a cosmetic ‘one and done’ treatment that will allow patients to remove decades of damage.

But anti-ageing is only scratching the surface of what AI-assisted drug discovery may be capable of.

Earlier this year, an Australian man used AI to help develop a personalised cancer vaccine for his dog, while here in Melbourne researchers are using AI to develop a new treatment for male pattern baldness.

And sometimes the biggest impacts don’t come from inventing a new medicine but in discovering a better use for ones we already have.

Because large-scale AI-driven simulations can switch thousands of genes on and off in digital models to understand how they affect disease, they can find new uses for existing off-patent generic drugs, where there is currently little financial incentive for big pharmaceutical companies to pursue them.

‘Its most immediate value is in reducing enormous search spaces because it can help scientists move from millions of possible targets, structures or compounds to the small number most worth testing,’ added Liveris.

For example, machine learning has found that Metformin, a common diabetes drug, may have applications in cancer treatment.

‘AI can also materially improve productivity across the development process, helping teams draft and negotiate agreements with pharmaceutical partners faster, accelerate diligence, review data rooms, assemble regulatory materials and interpret large volumes of scientific and clinical information,’ Liveris continued.

Medical research is one of the few industries where AI is not replacing scientists, but supercharging their research, handing them tools to solve problems they’d never crack alone.

It’s a refreshingly positive reminder that contrasts with the growing distrust of AI and increasing opposition to the proliferation of data centres across the country.

Don’t forget, humming away inside these ‘energy vampires’ are GPUs running AI models that are helping to reverse ageing and cure diseases that would otherwise be impossible.

I suppose if AI can help with the growing proliferation of wrinkles on my face, I won’t be so opposed to a data centre in my backyard.