Can AI diagnosis and treatment replace doctor consultation?

Can AI diagnosis and treatment replace doctor consultation?

Artificial intelligence (AI) models represented by DeepSeek are increasingly entering our daily lives. For example, in the medical field, not only are doctors using AI as an auxiliary diagnosis and treatment tool, but patients are also starting to "use AI for preliminary consultations," which has sparked widespread discussion. How should we view the role of AI diagnosis and treatment in practical applications? Will AI replace doctors in the future?

A Global Times reporter recently visited Beijing Children's Hospital and listened to Ni Xin, director of the National Children's Medical Center and president of Beijing Children's Hospital, talk about how to make "AI doctors and human doctors work together perfectly to achieve the century-long integration of 'warmth' and 'precision'."

Image generated by Doubao AI

AI conclusions are highly consistent with expert opinions

The Global Times reporter noticed that before 9 a.m., there were many anxious parents waiting at the Beijing Children's Hospital Inpatient Service Center. The busy pace is commonplace in such a nationally renowned hospital. How to enable children to receive treatment faster and more effectively, and how to treat more children in a limited time are issues that Ni Xin has been thinking about. He told the Global Times reporter: "2025-2027 is the 'Year of Pediatrics and Mental Health Services'. The country not only requires secondary and tertiary medical institutions and above to open pediatric departments, but the community also needs to have pediatric diagnosis and treatment capabilities. However, there is still a large gap in pediatricians in my country. How to enable children to receive medical treatment more quickly and accurately is a question I have been thinking about. With the rise of AI big data models, we have found that AI technology can quickly and accurately improve doctors' diagnosis and treatment efficiency, and even have more outstanding results in difficult and complicated diseases."

"Some people say that pediatrics is a mute subject because children cannot express themselves. With the assistance of AI doctors and the judgment of human doctors, the diagnosis and treatment effects can be twice as good with half the effort." Ni Xin introduced that on February 13, Beijing Children's Hospital convened 13 well-known experts from otolaryngology and head and neck surgery, tumor surgery, neurosurgery, psychiatry, infectious diseases and other departments to discuss the condition of an 8-year-old boy. They also used the assistance of AI pediatricians for the first time. As a result, the AI ​​pediatrician gave suggestions that were highly consistent with the results of the expert group consultation.

"About a year ago, we began to imagine whether we could 'build' one million pediatricians. In fact, as early as 2016, we launched a primary care pediatric respiratory disease diagnosis and treatment assistance system. When the doctor enters the patient's chief complaint and test results, the system will automatically assist in the diagnosis and give preliminary suggestions. If the diagnosis is clear, medication recommendations will also be given." Ni Xin told the Global Times reporter that the new AI system developed by the Children's Hospital United Technology Company can quickly learn and update professional medical knowledge. The system has input the clinical experience of more than 300 well-known experts in the hospital and decades of high-quality medical records data from the experts. Since the first introduction of AI consultation on February 13, the conclusions drawn by AI in the two subsequent outpatient treatments were highly consistent with the opinions of the experts.

AI is the doctor's second pair of eyes

Under the guidance of Ni Xin, a Global Times reporter walked into the consultation center and witnessed a "AI pediatrician + multidisciplinary expert" dual-doctor parallel multidisciplinary consultation model. Eight experts from the Children's Hospital gathered together to study two special cases. After carefully reviewing the medical history, CT images, pathological results, etc., the experts gave approximate treatment opinions.

“Come and see what the AI ​​doctor says.” As soon as Ni Xin finished speaking, the AI’s diagnosis and treatment results were quickly displayed on the screen, from analyzing the possible causes of the disease to medication, and then to the subsequent recommended treatment plans, all at a glance. “Look, it’s similar to our results, but it (AI) is more efficient.” The reporter saw that during the consultation process, the AI ​​doctor was like a knowledgeable "wise man", providing knowledge support to human doctors, while human doctors made the final decision based on their rich clinical experience and care for patients.

Ni Xin told reporters: "With the assistance of AI doctors, we are like having an extra pair of 'eyes', and we can see the full picture of the disease more comprehensively. Next, we will launch several AI doctors. The first is a family-based AI pediatrician. I hope that AI doctors can enter thousands of households. In the future, you can consult it at home about common diseases, such as when to get vaccinated, or even if you cough, it will take the initiative to talk to you. The elderly and children at home can communicate with it independently; it may also remind you to wash your hands before meals, and to open windows for ventilation during the peak of respiratory infections, etc., which is equivalent to a health doctor. The second is a community-based AI pediatrician. At present, most community doctors in my country are general practitioners, but children are a special group. After the community has an AI pediatrician, it can realize the dual-track cooperation of AI doctors and human doctors. AI doctors have a large amount of knowledge reserves of pediatric diseases and can assist doctors in diagnosing and treating simple children's illnesses in the community."

Machines cannot replicate human warmth

Ni Xin told the Global Times that there is a huge shortage of pediatricians in my country. Taking Beijing Children's Hospital as an example, the annual outpatient and emergency visits are about 3 million, and the doctors have a heavy workload. If AI is used more widely and maturely, it can greatly improve the efficiency of doctors' consultations.

When asked whether AI can completely replace doctors, Ni Xin said: "Human doctors need at least 5-8 years to learn, but machines can learn a lot of medical knowledge in two days. Will doctors be laid off? I think never. The human brain is indeed inferior to computers, but clinical practice requires human experience. AI is just a thought. It cannot replace humans to complete an operation. Just like the Chinese medicine's "look, smell, ask, and feel", can AI operate it? It can't, but the addition of AI will improve the work efficiency of doctors."

More importantly, "AI doctors do not have medical qualifications. Human doctors are the ones who truly have medical qualifications. Prescriptions are not just a few pieces of paper. They carry the weight of life and the warmth of humanity." Ni Xin described that when the robotic arm is suspended in the air and is ready to perform surgery on a patient, what the patient needs is not only a successful operation, but also a doctor who can pat the shoulder and say "don't be afraid". AI algorithms can push millions of diagnosis and treatment guidelines, but they cannot sense the distress signals hidden in the jokes of patients with depression, nor can they see the trembling corners of the mouth of cancer patients when they hear the "five-year survival rate". This warmth is something that machines can never replicate. "The warmth of medical care is the patient pause during the consultation; when comparing CT images, human doctors can observe the subtle movements of patients and their families rubbing the corners of their clothes nervously. AI is just a cold machine, and the right to prescribe must be firmly in the hands of human doctors, because people have warmth."

When asked whether he would promote more international cooperation in the future, Ni Xin smiled and said, "I have two good friends who work in top children's hospitals in the United States. After seeing our AI doctors 'on the job', they immediately called me and said, 'This is really a big deal.' Next, we plan to promote it in the countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, because the pediatric medical level in many countries in these regions is relatively weak."

This article is a work supported by the Science Popularization China Creation Cultivation Program

Author: Global Times

Produced by: China Association for Science and Technology Department of Science Popularization

Producer: China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.