Robot doctors? Machine passes medical exam

A Chinese robot has become the world’s first machine to pass a written medical exam, making futuristic ideas about robot doctors seem closer to reality.

The robot made history when it passed the written component of China’s national medical licensing test with flying colours, the China Daily reports.

It scored 456 points in the doctors’ entrance exam, which was well above the pass mark of 360.

The robot’s developer and leading Chinese artificial intelligence company, iFlytek Co Ltd, said the robot could assist with clinical diagnosis and outpatient treatment. 

"We will officially launch the robot in March next year,” iFlytek chairman Liu Qingfeng told China Daily.

“It is not meant to replace doctors. Instead, it is to promote better people-machine cooperation to boost efficiency."

iFlytek is conducting a pilot project with China’s Anhui Provincial Hospital to see how the robot can assist doctors in real medical cases, including researching cancer and training general practitioners.

“General practitioners are in severe shortage in China's rural areas so we hope the robot can help more people access quality medical resources,” Qingfeng said.

On Wednesday, the company became a member of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) alliance set up by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which aims to promote the research of basic sciences and the application of the cutting-edge technology.

In July, China unveiled a national plan to build a US$152.5 billion AI core industry by 2030.