Artificial Intelligence lifeline for India's flailing healthcare

India must take a leaf from China's book on improving healthcare. China, which, in 2015, had 3.6 physicians for every 1,000 population is deploying artificial intelligence (AI) in a big way to make up with automation what it lacks in manpower in healthcare. An article in the MIT Technology Review (MTR) talks of how it is easing work in many areas of healthcare, from diagnostics to dentistry--in fact, the Chinese government has made computerised medical diagnosis one of the cornerstones of its grand plan to embrace AI by 2020. While over 130 companies are already working on AI applications in the country's healthcare sector, the IDC estimate of a $930-million market in China for AI-led healthcare services by 2022 means more of such companies are expected to come online. China's homegrown tech giants, Alibaba and Tencent, have also placed significant bets on AI diagnostic tools.