Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Aug 27, 2025

This entrepreneur says AI can take better care of your health

This entrepreneur says AI can take better care of your health

Dr Loubna Bouarfa, CEO of AI healthcare company, Okra, describes her vision of what our health could look like in the future with Artificial Intelligence on our side.


It’s rare to meet someone who lights up a room, but imagine someone doing so hundreds of miles away, from another country. That is what it felt like speaking to Dr. Loubna Bouarfa, CEO of AI healthcare company Okra.

COVID restrictions meant we could not travel to the UK to meet her in person, but we set up the interview exchanging via email and social media beforehand. When interview D-Day finally came, with Loubna travelling from Cambridge to a London studio, and me on our Lyon set, it felt like I was chatting to an old friend.

Part of the reason we clicked is that when we started discussing AI, I asked Loubna what inspired her. Her answer was surprising, but also created an immediate bond. Her younger brother, like my son, has autism. Her words struck a chord. Later, during our interview she told me that growing up with her brother helped her learn from an "early age that the rules and the norms that society impose on us are just generic perceptions, not representing the full spectrum of life. My fascination for AI comes from that", she revealed, "there are no rules or norms. I've learnt that you can be many things and being autistic is one of them".

Dr. Loubna Bouarfa


Artificial intelligence is a technology that is not bound by rules, but instead, Loubna explained it "mimics the way we learn as human beings by observing, adapting and learning from our environment". It appears that healthcare is a domain of untapped potential. According to Loubna, if AI were built into healthcare systems it would allow for far more pre-emptive action from the medical community. "We don't need to wait for people to get sick. Our health care systems with AI could become more proactive and leverage this data to advise patients and to keep them healthy".


Loubna stepped into the future for us and explained how health systems could work. "So it's 2050 and someone is born. As soon as this baby is born, routine checks will be performed. Their genetic screening happens and imagine there is a mutation in important genes. So as soon as that's detected an alarm goes off". Throughout the person’s life routine checks would take place to keep track of the mutation. If one day an anomaly were detected, scans would automatically be prescribed. If it were serious "the human comes in the picture, the doctor” to speak to the patient. However, "while the doctor is performing his job, AI algorithms will be running in the back end and computing what is the best treatment for these patients. Once after treatment, we still have algorithms running on and predicting if there are any relapses and automating the whole process".

For this to work there needs to be a solid data space on health. If that were in place, Loubna told us, it would immediately help direct medical practitioners and the patient to "the best course of action and more than that, to tell you what are the best treatments that will work for you as a unique person by learning from all patients similar to you".

This would prove, it seems, nothing short of a revolution in healthcare. One of the main challenges at the moment in Europe is a lack of health data. "We don't have much of European data that fits our patient population that can help us individualise medicine here in Europe. I think that is the next important step that needs to happen before we can scale the use of AI in health care systems in Europe".

Dr. Loubna Bouarfa


There are also important issues of privacy to contend with, but Loubna said she was hopeful on that front, telling us that data can be anonymised. As part of a high-level expert group advising the European Commission, this was one of the top priorities as well as making sure data were unbiased.

Bias it appears can take many forms and is not only resolved by ensuring data from a wide range of profiles. AI, Loubna revealed, is a multi-cultural space, and to be so, it needs to be nourished by people from as many diverse backgrounds as possible. "AI is a spectrum of things. There are many aspects to AI than just the programming part. There is the design, the creativity. There is also the ethics of designing those systems, the user interface".

AI is therefore not just an intangible zone for tech wizards, in fact, it would be a door open to all of us. "Follow your passion", Loubna tells us, "and it can lead your career path to AI because we need all the genius and the experts to add value and make AI more inclusive and more beautiful".

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
Nurse who raped woman continued working for a year despite police alert
Drought forces closures of England’s canal routes, canceling boat holidays
Sweet tooth scents: food-inspired perfumes surge as weight-loss drugs suppress appetites
Experts warn Britain dangerously reliant on imported food
Family of Notting Hill Carnival murder victim call event unmanageable
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
×