If this Google test goes well, your next hospital visit could benefit from the help of artificial intelligence (AI). According to recent information, Google has been using its Med-PaLM-2 chatbot in a clinic in the United States, the Mayo Clinic, since April.
In a document detailing its work with the new AI, Google explains that its Med-PaLM-2 chatbot is able to answer health-related questions and offer a diagnosis based on symptoms. But the program can also perform laborious tasks, such as summarizing a medical document or organizing patient data. In the future, Google hopes AI can even help analyze an X-ray.
The chatbot is based on the Med-PaLM-2 language model, which was announced a few months ago. Med-PaLM 2 is formed from a corpus of data based on medical demonstrations carried out by experts and questions / answers from medical examinations. According to Google, this training based on specific information makes the chatbot much more successful in health-related conversations than general chatbots.
The chatbot performed as well as a real person
According to Google, Med-PaLM-2 demonstrated a correct understanding of the situations it encountered in almost every area. Clearly, the chatbot performed as well as a real person. The company even said that the AI ​​sometimes generated answers that were preferred over those of real doctors.
Of course, it’s not perfect. Speaking on Med-PaLM-2 earlier this year, Google noted that the chatbot still suffered from accuracy issues similar to other AI products. However, most of the time, these inaccuracies resulted in irrelevant responses.
A Google research director said recently that Med-PaLM-2 is still in the early stages of development. But he also said that language models enable AI applications in the medical world to increase tenfold.
Naturally, the use of AI in healthcare raises privacy issues. Google clarified, however, that users’ health data is encrypted and used exclusively by Med-PaLM-2 at the local level.
Source: “ZDNet.com”