From the moment you step into the offices of Babylon Health in London's swanky South Kensington, you feel like you're in the future. Only it's a future that smells remarkably like the past. I'm reminded of the first open plan space I ever saw at a London newspaper -- only Babylon's is lined with plastic plants that crawl from the desks to the ceiling -- and I kind of preferred that grey honesty of old. There's a huge heart on the front glass door, but very little heart in the waiting area, where they have done away with receptionists and you're asked instead to sign in via a tablet. Around you, adults in suits perch and slouch on colorful cubes that would fit quite well in the kids' play area at your local general practitioner's.

Digital Surgery, a health tech startup based in London, today launched what it's calling the world's first dynamic artificial intelligence (AI) system designed for the operating room. The reference tool helps support surgical teams through complex medical procedures -- cofounder and former plastic surgeon Jean Nehme described it as a "Google Maps" for surgery. "What we've done is applied artificial intelligence … to procedures … created with surgeons globally," he told VentureBeat in a phone interview. "We're leveraging data with machine learning to build a [predictive] system." Well-funded hospital systems have shown an interest in automation.