The following is from Becker’s Hospital Review – November 21, 201. It was bound to happen. Draw your own conclusions.
An artificial intelligence-powered robot in China took the country’s medical licensing examinations and passed, becoming the first robot to do so, Futurism reports.
The robot, Xiaoyi, not only passed the tests, but it did so with flying colors — 96 points above the required marks. Developed by leading Chinese AI company iFlytek Co., it was designed to capture and analyze patient information, but its skills go beyond that, demonstrating the medical knowledge necessary to be a licensed practitioner, according to Futurism.
The company plans to use Xiaoyi to aid human physicians and improve their efficiency in treating patients.
“We will officially launch the robot in March 2018. It is not meant to replace doctors. Instead, it is to promote better people-machine cooperation so as to boost efficiency,” iFlytek Chairman Liu Qingfeng told China Daily. “General practitioners are in severe shortage in China’s rural areas. We hope AI can help more people access quality medical [resources].”
