The future is looking bright for New Zealand businesses when they begin integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and new technologies into products, NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller says. A recent United States survey found 80 percent of consumers are excited about the way AI and machine learning will change their lives. US consumers are optimistic about technology developments in smart machines, AI, and robotics. The report from global creative consultancy firm Lippincott surveyed 2000 leading edge US consumers to determine their emotional state around technology, and draw conclusions about what the customer of the future will be looking for from businesses. A number of events are being held this week, as part of NZTech's national Techweek, to discuss AI and its implications.

Artificial intelligence isn't likely to replace doctors, says a researcher, but it's likely their role will change as more artificial intelligence is developed. A study by Whangarei doctors William Diprose and Nicholas Buist has highlighted rapid progress of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) in the health sector. They say a safe and sustainable healthcare system needs to look beyond human potential towards solutions such as AI. Q: Could artificial intelligence spell the end of doctors as we know them? Diprose and Buist are right to highlight the prospects of artificial intelligence in healthcare.

Artificial intelligence isn't likely to replace doctors, says a researcher, but it's likely their role will change as more artificial intelligence is developed. A study by Whangarei doctors William Diprose and Nicholas Buist has highlighted rapid progress of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) in the health sector. They say a safe and sustainable healthcare system needs to look beyond human potential towards solutions such as AI. Q: Could artificial intelligence spell the end of doctors as we know them? Diprose and Buist are right to highlight the prospects of artificial intelligence in healthcare.

The role of the doctor could soon become redundant, overtaken by forms of Artificial Intelligence (AI) which will test, diagnose and treat disease just as well as any human medical professional could if not better, two doctors from New Zealand's Whangarei Hospital predict. This worldwide robotic vision of the future, estimated to be 10-to-20 years away, the editorial suggests doctors could be eradicated from the payroll with medical assistants, midwives and nurses filling the more human-based skill gaps that AI is unable to perform. An editorial, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal today, says the secret behind an AI takeover is a unique pattern-recognition algorithm that synthesises and compares a patient's data to predefined disease categories. Once a diagnosis is delivered, AI can then recommend an evidence-based treatment, specific to each patient. "Over the coming years, AI will challenge the traditional role of the doctor," the paper reads.