Microsoft develops AI tool that can diagnose 'sequentially' like a doctor

Microsoft researchers unveiled an artificial intelligence tool capable of diagnosing patients in a step-by-step manner, akin to physicians, in a study published on Thursday in Science. The model outperformed general practitioners by more than double in accuracy when tackling complex medical cases, as reported by Dr. Dominic King, the corporate vice president of the health unit at Microsoft AI.

Unlike traditional AI models that analyze all symptoms, lab results, and imaging studies simultaneously, this innovative tool utilizes an orchestrator to coordinate the diagnostic process. The orchestrator first determines what to inquire about the patient's history and the significance of the physical examination, subsequently deciding which tests to order. As new results come in, the AI model updates its hypotheses and plans accordingly.

The tool was tested on over 300 uncommon and perplexing medical dilemmas, outperforming human physicians using textbooks and the internet. It also surpassed human physicians in emergency room scenarios sourced from a major database. The researchers noted that AI excels at achieving a 100% pass rate in multiple-choice questions, but this does not reflect real-world patient encounters.

Moreover, employing the orchestrator resulted in reduced costs for diagnostic work-ups compared to human doctors. The researchers, in collaboration with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, plan to further evaluate the tool's capacity to triage patients in emergency department waiting rooms.