Artificial Intelligence in Pharmacy: A Comprehensive Review of Applications, Drug discovery and development, Challenges

Artificial intelligence (AI) has brought about rapid changes in the pharmaceutical industry in drug discovery, development, and patient care. AI-supported technologies, such as machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), and data analytics, are now adopted into pharmacy practices to ensure better precision, enhanced efficiency, and increased patient safety. These abilities of AI to sift through vast amounts of data—such as genomics, clinical trials, and medical literature—have thus enhanced drug discovery with faster and cheaper drug development. In addition, AI technologies have also optimized other areas of pharmacy practice, including inventory management, custom dosing of medicines, and safety monitoring of patients. The article discusses a wide range of applications of AI in pharmacy: from development to clinical decision support and operational efficiencies in promoting better patient outcomes. The article also discusses data privacy, regulatory compliance, and the balance between AI-based automation and human care as obvious challenges. AI presents a great many perspectives in pharmacy, thus providing incomparable benefits and opportunities toward improved efficiency and quality of pharmaceutical services.