Microsoft AI Tool Achieves Diagnostic Accuracy Exceeding Human Physicians in Complex Medical Cases

Key facts

• Microsoft researchers developed an artificial intelligence tool that diagnoses patients step by step, following a process similar to doctors.
• The AI model employs an 'orchestrator' to coordinate a simulated panel of clinical experts, which determines which questions to ask, which examinations to conduct, and which tests to order.
• The system was tested on more than 300 unusual and complex medical cases.
• The AI tool was found to be more than twice as accurate as general physicians who were using textbooks and the internet to assess patients.
• The AI model also outperformed human physicians in scenarios drawn from a major database of emergency department admissions.
• The diagnostic workups designed by the AI orchestrator were found to cost less than those conducted by human doctors.
• Future evaluation of the tool's triage capabilities in emergency department waiting rooms is planned in collaboration with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.