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    AI may be about to dramatically improve medical care across the developing world. New research in Rwanda and Pakistan shows LLMs can outperform human doctors in diagnostic success.
    Futurology

    AI may be about to dramatically improve medical care across the developing world. New research in Rwanda and Pakistan shows LLMs can outperform human doctors in diagnostic success.


    Human doctors take years to train, and the resources to train enough are so limited that few countries have enough doctors. We are so used to that state of affairs, it's hard to imagine having a magic wand that could be waved to solve the problem overnight.

    Yet, that is almost what AI can do. According to the World Bank’s 2025 Global Findex Digital Connectivity Tracker, about 68 % of adults in developing (low- and middle-income) economies own a smartphone. That means almost everyone has access to one they own, or someone close to them owns. Smartphones are a perfect way to access this AI.

    As soon as 2030, everyone on the planet, even the very poorest, will have access to expert medical advice. This should start to feed through to dramatic improvements in health statistics, child mortality, and lifespan improvements.

    Cheap AI chatbots transform medical diagnoses in places with limited care: Studies in Rwanda and Pakistan reveal real-world utility of chatbots in underfunded clinics, and not just in benchmark tests.

    AI may be about to dramatically improve medical care across the developing world. New research in Rwanda and Pakistan shows LLMs can outperform human doctors in diagnostic success.
    byu/lughnasadh inFuturology

    View 4 Comments

    4 Comments

    2. Stressisnotgood on

      I’ve had horrible luck with doctors who have been really arrogant and think they can never be wrong. Cannot wait for AI to become a proper triage tool.

    3. _ECMO_ on

      I’d be willing to bet against this.

      Even more so in the developing countries where the infrastructure is the actual problem. What good is a physician chatbot when there’s no lab to do affordable blood tests and no medications? I guess they can die in peace knowing a probable diagnosis.

    4. Historical_Chip208 on

      AI combined with advanced robotics is the future IMO. Send ‘Dr. Robot’ out to a rural area with medical needs, but this robot is equipped with machinery that can draw blood, run labs with internal diagnostic equipment, has portable ultrasound/XR/MRI in its body, embedded with programming to interpret results and provide a diagnosis and recommended treatment, formulate medications or at least store common ones (eg antibiotics internally). Essentially, BAYMAX.

      Oh and as long as it remains charged, not prone to errors like sleep deprived, overworked healthcare professionals.

      That all said, with such complex robots, still need HUMANS to develop and VET all the algorithms necessary for a comprehensive medical evaluation