China presents automated doctors, teachers
Robots that can diagnose diseases.
- Doctor Bot -
China's iFlytek, a specialist in speech recognition systems, presented a new "medical assistant" robot at the Beijing show which it said was able to help identify up to 150 diseases and ailments -- even passing a national medical qualification exam with a high score.
The robot, which operated in conjunction with a doctor, asks patients a series of diagnostic questions and can also analyse X-rays.
"It's already being used in hospitals since March and has made some 4,000 diagnoses," company president Liu Qingfeng said, adding such a device could be particularly useful for clinics in more remote parts of China.
This sounds like a crazy idea. Something out of a science fiction movie. But if you really think about it, it could be the way of the future, and also a super positive development in care and education. We're doing a terrible job now, for too many people, in those areas. We need to do better.