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Technology

Chatbot gives medical advice to hundreds of users in largest trial yet

Users of the healthcare app Alan whose queries were answered by a medical AI reported high satisfaction levels, but one exchange included "potentially dangerous inaccuracies"

By Alex Wilkins

2 December 2024

Some of Alan’s app users got answers to their medical queries from an AI chatbot

miniseries/Getty Images

A French health insurance company has tested its medical chatbot with hundreds of people, in the largest real-world trial of a medical AI of its kind.

Technology companies have long promised that their AIs can help ease pressure on doctors by providing accurate medical advice, but critics have been sceptical about their accuracy and potential risks, and they have failed to find wide success. One of the most prominent AI healthcare companies, Babylon Health, went bankrupt last year.

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