Bots, bytes and big data: Could AI transform Indian healthcare?

How many doctors does it take to tell you how you're doing? The answer could soon be, none. Scientists and researchers across India are exploring the applications of artificial intelligence in health care -- from helping diagnoses illnesses to monitoring critical care. "Artificial intelligence -- or cyber-physical systems, as I like to call them -- can collect digitised data or generate data, analyse and make decisions based on it," says professor Ashutosh Sharma, secretary of the union government's department of science and technology. "A big advantage of AI in healthcare is that it can help where there is a scarcity of human resources, which is the case in many rural areas," adds Dr P Anandan, CEO at the Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Wadhwani AI).