Chinese search giant Baidu has launched a medical chatbot

This story was delivered to BI Intelligence Apps and Platforms Briefing subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here. Baidu unveiled on Monday a medical chatbot that aims to simplify the process of collecting and sharing information between patient and doctor, VentureBeat reports. Dubbed "Melody," the bot -- which is housed within the Baidu Doctor app -- collects and aggregates medical information from users that it then passes on to doctors who use the information to make diagnoses. Melody, which is only available in China, provides a proof-of-concept that could be replicated in Western markets and lay the framework for the wider implementation of chatbots within the mobile health (mHealth) industry.