AI to serve humans as helper, not competitor: exec

Chinese information technology company iFlytek unveiled on Thursday the first medical assistant robot powered by artificial intelligence (AI), which can work as a certified doctor in hospitals.

The robot, which uses technologies such as knowledge learning and semantic understanding and development, can capture and analyze patient information and make both an initial and final diagnosis, attendees were told at the annual conference of iFlytek held in Beijing on Thursday.

“AI-powered technology will reshape the landscape of medical services in China,” Liu Qingfeng, chairman of the company, told the audience.

In the field of medical image recognition, the company has been at the forefront in recent years.

For instance, at the world-recognized Lung Nodule Analysis competition in 2016, the company achieved a 94.1 percent accuracy rate in detecting pulmonary nodules.

However, with the boom of AI technologies, more and more jobs are likely to be replaced by robots, Liu noted.

Telephone salespeople, typists and accountants are three categories of jobs that are most likely to disappear in the AI era, he said, citing recent industry analysis. Other such jobs include customer services employees, bank staff and receptionists.

“The first certified medical robot is not built to replace human beings, but to help doctors as an assistant,” Liu said.

In response to the fear that the rise of AI might become a threat to humans, he said AI should not be considered as a rival.

“AI is being developed to empower individuals and enable industries,” Liu said.

In 2016, the market for core AI technologies in China surpassed 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), and more than 1,500 companies were engaged in the sector, according to the National Security Information Industry Development and Research Center affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.