A.I. Shows Promise Assisting Physicians

Drawing on the records of nearly 600,000 Chinese patients who had visited a pediatric hospital over an 18-month period, the vast collection of data used to train this new system highlights an advantage for China in the worldwide race toward artificial intelligence. Because its population is so large -- and because its privacy norms put fewer restrictions on the sharing of digital data -- it may be easier for Chinese companies and researchers to build and train the "deep learning" systems that are rapidly changing the trajectory of health care. On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order meant to spur the development of A.I. across government, academia and industry in the United States. As part of this "American A.I. Initiative," the administration will encourage federal agencies and universities to share data that can drive the development of automated systems. Pooling health care data is a particularly difficult endeavor.