Peer-reviewed research shows Babylon’s latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) could help doctors improve diagnosis, particularly for complex cases. Doctors are overworked and in short supply across the globe, but they could soon be assisted by machine learning to help reduce errors in primary care.
This is the first known time that AI has used causation instead of correlations to support doctors with diagnosis in simulated cases. A pool of over 20 Babylon GPs created 1,671 realistic written medical cases - these included typical and atypical examples of symptoms for more than 350 illnesses.
Asian Voice exclusively spoke to Dr Nirvana Luckraj, APAC Medical Director, Babylon to know more. We asked Dr Luckraj to comment on the accuracy of the diagnosis by AI and explain how the AI will compensate for the lack of human interaction with the patient, especially in cases where physical examination is required. She said, “Our technology is not designed to replace a doctor. Alongside traditional interactions with a physical doctor face to face, people also have the choice of engaging with digital health interventions powered by AI. We have consistent monitoring, supervision and audit to maintain high quality assurance. In addition, we have also built a detailed Clinical AI governance protocol that merges statutory, regulatory and professional best-practice to ensure our AI is safe.”
Speaking about the kind of cases that this AI is adept at, the doctor said, “Babylon’s Symptom Checker covers a range of symptoms that someone might consult a doctor about and based on the severity, risk factors and underlying existing health conditions the user has, our AI provides information on potential causes of their condition, lists them in order of likelihood and possible next steps. This is because our AI, developed by our team of research scientists, engineers and healthcare professionals, is built around the way a doctor operates and is designed to empower people with knowledge about their health and help relieve pressure on clinicians.”
Babylon’s AI products (ie Healthcheck and Symptom Checker) can be found in the Babylon app which is free of charge. The only chargeable service within the Babylon app is the GP consultation service where users are required to pay to speak to a physical doctor as well as the prescription medication they receive.
Thanks to digital literacy and abundance of literature on diseases online, we enquired whether he thought this might instigate patients to self medicate by using a technology like this where there's lack of human interaction and the patients might not be as articulate as they should be. She said, “With the availability of AI health services, we are empowering people to stay informed about their health and to help them understand their symptoms better. Apart from traditional face to face interactions with a physical doctor, people will now also have the choice to engage with digital health interventions. There will still be instances where people will need to see a doctor physically and our AI technology will help users to receive information about where they might seek further advice from healthcare professionals. However, it is important to note that Babylon’s Healthcheck and Symptom Checker products are not certified as diagnostic tools and are not intended for medical purposes. Any health-related information provided by Babylon’s software products should not be treated as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.”
