The AI Solution: Can AI End Animal Testing for Good? 

Although no one particularly enjoys subjecting animals to scientific testing, it is an unavoidable step taken to ensure that drugs and other substances are safe for eventual human use. 

In the endless run to find a non-animal alternative, AI (Artificial Intelligence) systems are now helping the process in several ways including: 

• Using AI to search through existing global animal testing results to prevent new tests. 

• AnimalGAN, a project created to replace the need for future animal testing by incorporating software that aims to determine how rats would react to any given chemical using the data collected from 6442 rats across 1317 treatment scenarios.  

• Virtual Second Species, an AI-powered virtual dog that is trained using data collected from historic dog results. 

Despite the positive sides of digitalizing animal testing, there are a few challenges that are yet to be solved. One of these is the phenomenon known as data bias. It means that if an AI system is trained using data collected from a single ethnic group, the results might not be suitable for people hailing from other ethnicities. 

With the advent of new chemicals, the existing test reports might not suffice, and more testing might be necessary. 

Hence, animal testing cannot disappear overnight. “The use of animals is necessary and for good reasons, mandatory in many aspects”, says Kerstin Kleinschmidt – Dorr, the chief veterinary officer at German Pharmaceutical company Merck. “But we believe in a future where we will identify better animal testing-free solutions to the unsolved problems requiring them today” she adds.