Like the “all-natural” label in a grocery store or the “breaking news” banner on CNN, “AI” seems to be slapped onto every piece of technology. From smart fridges to complex language models, it seems impossible to avoid. Because of how frequently the term is used, it’s easy to miss stories about real and concrete ways that advancements in artificial intelligence are actively helping people. The news is full of stories about AI, but for all these reports, how is AI actually changing our lives for the better? One key area is in healthcare and medicine, where artificial intelligence is improving testing and diagnosis of patients.

The Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence released its annual report on the state of AI and dedicated a chapter to science and medicine. Among the AI breakthroughs in healthcare are sensors that can detect neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s and models that can help the scientific community understand genetic mutations.

The report also notes an uptick in Food and Drug Administration approval for AI-related medical devices. For example, In Louisiana, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center is using artificial intelligence to streamline the screening process for cancer patients. The technology, MR-Box by Thera Panacea, is newly approved and will reduce the number of (expensive) scans that patients must undergo. It also helps with the administrative side of cancer treatment by reducing the timeline between testing, diagnoses, and treatment plans.

The benefits of AI for healthcare extend beyond the lab; artificial intelligence can make notoriously tedious processes much more efficient by reducing the amount of paperwork, filing, and miscommunication involved. While the technology of artificial intelligence in medicine is often complicated, the immediate impacts are obvious. All of these advances can help us better understand and heal the human body more quickly.

AI is improving our health right now, not just in some distant imagined future. That is why the sprints to regulate AI will not protect us; they will only prevent our ability to protect and empower ourselves. Those in favor of preemptive red tape should look to the great strides in medicine and healthcare through artificial intelligence as a reason to be optimistic about how the spirit of innovation can transform and save lives.