Move over, Doc: This AI might know better than your physician

By Jeremy Kahn Babylon Healthcare Services Ltd., the fast-growing mobile medical consultation service, said its artificial intelligence software, in tests, can assess common conditions more accurately than human doctors. London-based Babylon's AI correctly answered 81 percent of diagnostic questions designed to mimic those trainee doctors must answer as part of the Royal College of General Practitioner's exam that must be passed to become a qualified GP doctor in the U.K. The exam is graded on a curve, but over the past five years, the average score trainees needed to pass was 72 percent. Babylon demonstrated this technology publicly for the first time in a live test at an event at London's Royal College of Physicians Wednesday. The company said it would publish the results of its tests online. It's made the AI tool available for free through its app and website in some parts of the U.K., including London, as well as Rwanda. Because the technology has not been approved by regulators, Babylon calls the software's answers "health information" not "diagnoses."