World's first AI hospital opens in China - and it can treat 3,000 patients a day
An AI hospital staffed with virtual doctors may sound like science fiction but it has just been unveiled for the first time in China.
The world's first artificial intelligence (AI) hospital is set to revolutionise healthcare across the globe and save millions of lives, according to the researchers behind it. The bold claims come after the futuristic 'Agent Hospital' was unveiled in China this week.
However, while many hospital openings typically take place in person with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Agent Hospital is instead a virtual facility staffed with 14 AI doctors and four AI nurses.
The doctors at the virtual hospital can treat up to 10,000 patients in a matter of days. To put this in perspective, it would take at least two years for human doctors to achieve the same numbers.
The AI doctors also score a remarkable 93.06 percent accuracy rate on the US Medical Licensing Exam questions.
The hospital's developers claim the innovation will save millions of lives.
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Agent Hospital was developed by AI researchers from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.
Researchers have pledged that it will transform the way doctors diagnose and treat patients.
The hospital is already so advanced that it promises to be operational by the second half of 2024.
The AI programme is expected to be wheeled out to medical universities at first to help train real-life doctors. The virtual doctors will eventually be rolled out to patients at hospitals across China.
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The research team leader of the Agent Hospital, Liu Yang, said the futuristic virtual hospital will bring immense benefits to both medical professionals and the general public.
Mr Liu said that the AI hospital town could also simulate and predict medical scenarios, such as the next pandemic outbreak.
The 14 doctors which have already been developed are designed to diagnose diseases and formulate detailed treatment plans, while the four nurses focus on daily support.
AI in healthcare has become a major part of efforts in the UK to help rescue an NHS in crisis.
Last year, a UK study found that eye scans powered by artificial intelligence could detect Parkinson's disease before people have symptoms.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, the Tony Blair Institute suggested that all Britons could have a "personalised AI doctor" in the future.
Last week, the Government rolled out plans for a £15.5 million AI technology that could cut cancer waiting times by detecting cancer cells 2.5 times quicker than doctors alone.
