Google 'robomedics' spot disease faster than doctors

Artificial intelligence developed by Google could soon be used to diagnose disease faster than doctors. The technology giant's AI firm, DeepMind, has a number of contracts with NHS hospitals to use its technology to improve detection and treatment of certain conditions from cancer to eye disease. Researchers have now submitted what it described as'promising' initial findings to a medical journal from a two-year project working with Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. It is thought that the technology, which has been programmed to detect signs of disease such as glaucoma, age related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, could enter clinical trials within a couple of years. Retinal scans from thousands of patients were used to develop an algorithm - a set of mathematical instructions or rules that can work out answers to problems - to spot signs of disease.