More and more, computers must participate with physicians and patients as trusted partners in assessing medical options and tracking outcomes. But before the computer can become a routine medical assistant, data and computational services must become Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) for machines. In this article, the fundamentals of FAIR data and some technology trends are described, with clarification of commonly held and often repeated misconceptions about FAIR. As FAIR was conceived primarily in the life sciences, medical writers are uniquely positioned to help counter these misconceptions.