Artificial intelligence is more successful than doctors

The artificial intelligence team led by Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Süleyman has developed a system that can evaluate complex and difficult cases by imitating a board of expert doctors. According to the company's statement, the system works with OpenAI's advanced o3 model. The system was tested on more than 300 difficult cases selected from the world-renowned New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

NEJM is known for its complex and instructive patient stories designed for doctors to solve. The Microsoft team tested the AI’s capabilities by turning these cases into interactive tests. The results showed that the system was able to correctly diagnose more than 80 percent of the cases, compared with 20 percent of the cases for doctors working alone.

Microsoft stated that the AI ​​proceeds step by step like a real doctor, asking questions, planning the necessary tests and finally making a diagnosis. Depending on the situation, the system can also request test results such as X-rays and blood tests from patients.

Microsoft explained that the system can decide which tests to order more efficiently than human doctors, thereby reducing costs.

Will artificial intelligence replace doctors?

Microsoft emphasizes that AI will not replace doctors, but rather make their job easier. It states that AI can bring together knowledge from different medical fields and provide doctors with advanced decision support, especially in complex cases.

Microsoft officials state that the system is not ready for clinical use and needs to be tested on more common symptoms.

"Doctors' clinical roles are not limited to making diagnoses. They have tasks that AI cannot undertake, such as dealing with uncertainty and building trust with patients and their families," Microsoft's blog post said.

The company’s slogan, “The road to medical superintelligence,” brings with it expectations of major changes in the healthcare sector. Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Süleyman told Western media that the system could become nearly error-free within 5–10 years.

The spread of artificial intelligence in the field of medicine can facilitate access to healthcare, especially in regions of the world where there are no doctors or where there is a shortage of doctors. Artificial intelligence systems can provide the same quality information all over the world by updating simultaneously and rapidly when new research and new treatment protocols on a new disease emerge, thus contributing to the provision of basic healthcare services more equally.