Exploring the feasibility of conversational diagnostic AI in a real-world clinical study

Google Research · 4 months ago

Google researchers conducted a real-world clinical feasibility study of AMIE, a conversational diagnostic AI system, with 100 patients at an academic medical center who interacted with the system via text-chat before primary care appointments under physician supervision. Zero safety interventions were required across all interactions, and AMIE included the final diagnosis in its top 7 differential diagnoses in 90% of cases, though primary care physicians outperformed the system in cost-effectiveness and practicality of management plans. The study demonstrates that supervised deployment of conversational medical AI is feasible and well-received by both patients and clinicians, but larger controlled trials are needed to quantify clinical impact.