Feeling poorly? The app will see you now

LONDON (Reuters) - London-based Babylon Health says its artificial intelligence technology, in tests, has outperformed most physicians in assessing disease symptoms, throwing down a challenge to doctors, some of whom doubt its true abilities. Babylon, which was founded by entrepreneur Ali Parsa in 2013, is one of a number of start-ups tapping into the promise of artificial intelligence (AI) to help patients and doctors sift through symptoms to come up with a diagnosis. It aims to offer health advice of family doctor quality by using AI delivered through a smartphone chatbot app - potentially a big saving for governments as they struggle to fund healthcare for growing and ageing populations. In a representative sample of questions set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) for its final exams to qualify as a family doctor, the Babylon app achieved an 81 percent success level, well ahead of the average pass mark over the last five years of 72 percent, the company said. But Martin Marshall, vice chairman of the RCGP, said AI systems could not be compared to highly-trained medical professionals.