China is going full speed in the race to dominate the field of artificial intelligence and overtake the US. One such example of China’s eagerness in the field is Xiaoyi, an AI-powered robot, which has recently taken the national medical licensing examination and passed, making it the first robot to have done so. Not only did the robot pass the exam, it actually got a score of 456 points, which is 96 points above the required marks.
Scientists say that there are a number of tests that need to be passed by robots before they can be deemed truly intelligent, on the same level as human cognition. Those tests have still not been cleared by any robot but that has not stopped scientists from trying to do so and at the same time beating other tests. China also opened the first AI assisted treatment center. You can watch it in the video below:
This robot was developed by leading Chinese AI company iFlytek Co., Ltd. It had been designed to capture and analyze patient information. Now, the company has proven that Xiaoyi could also have enough medical know-how to be a licensed practitioner.
Other leading companies have also introduced their robots in the medical industry and iFlytek has plans for Xiaoyi to assist human doctors to improve their efficiency in future treatments. “We will officially launch the robot in March 2018. It is not meant to replace doctors. Instead, it is to promote better people-machine cooperation so as to boost efficiency,” iFlytek chairman Liu Qingfeng told China Daily.
The company aims to use AI to improve cancer treatment and help train general practitioners, which China de[erately needs, “General practitioners are in severe shortage in China’s rural areas. We hope AI can help more people access quality medical resource,” Qingfeng added.
We can rest assured that the robot is not going to take over the medical field just yet and is only here to assist the human doctors.