British doctors go on the defensive due to 'high-performing' 'GP at Hand' app

LONDON – A medical chatbot said to perform as well as or even better than human doctors has sparked a war of words in Britain, in a clash over how much the cash-strapped public health service should rely on artificial intelligence. AI company Babylon, which is already working with the National Health Service, claimed its chatbot scored higher marks than real live doctors in "robust tests." The British firm said it quizzed the AI using sample questions for trainee exams set by Britain's Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), the professional body for family doctors. The programmed chatbot, a key feature of Babylon's "GP at Hand" app, scored 81 percent when sitting the test for the first time, while the average pass mark over the past five years for doctors was 72 percent, according to the company. Ali Parsa, its founder who presented the findings in London earlier this week, hailed the results as "a landmark." "(They) take humanity a significant step closer to achieving a world where no one is denied safe and accurate health advice," he said in a statement.