If there is a sign of godliness, surely it is the creation of life. One could even argue that without the ability to create, God feels much less powerful and much less worthy of his name. And so what does it say about us when we are on the cusp of giving birth to another, more intelligent, unpredictable form of life in this universe? It perhaps not only speaks on our never-ending want to be divine, but also on our destiny to become creators. So artificial intelligence is our child. But then, like nature which gave birth to us, children end up succeeding their parents and in many cases revolting against them. Though my goal here isn't to present AI in a bad light, only in a realistic one.

Biomind was developed in a joint venture between a Singaporean tech company, Hanalytics, and China's prestigious Tiantan Hospital. Since December, when the venture started up, tens of thousands of medical images collected over a decade have been used to teach Biomind its job. After months of deep learning, the machine was ready for a competition against 25 experienced doctors at Beijing's China National Convention Center testing their ability to analyze images of the brain.

'The robot at the remote site has different force, humidity and temperature sensors, all capturing information that a doctor would get when they are directly palpating (physically examining) a patient,' explains Professor Angelika Peer, a robotics researcher at the University of the West of England, UK. Prof. Peer is also the project coordinator of the EU-funded ReMeDi project, which is developing the robotic doctor to allow medical professionals to examine patients over huge distances. Through a specially designed surface mounted on a robotic arm, stiffness data of the patient's abdomen is displayed to the human, allowing the doctor to feel what the remote robot feels. This is made possible thanks to a tool called a haptic device, which has a soft surface reminiscent of skin that can recreate the sense of touch through force and changing its shape. During the examination, the doctor sits at a desk facing three screens, one showing the doctor's hand on the faraway patient and a second for teleconferencing with the patient, which will remain an essential part of the exchange.