First Hospital Opens Without Doctors

A Chinese startup has opened the world's first clinic in Saudi Arabia where artificial intelligence (AI) diagnoses patients, marking a significant step towards replacing doctors in primary healthcare, according to Bloomberg.

Shanghai's Synyi AI medical technology company launched the pilot program in the Eastern Al-Ahsa region of Saudi Arabia in collaboration with Almoosa Health Group in April. During the pilot project, the AI virtual doctor will autonomously make diagnoses and prescribe medications to patients, interacting with them much like a human doctor.

It is noted that this is a final step towards allowing AI to diagnose and treat patients directly. In the previous phase of testing, the error rate of the AI was less than 0.3%.