Health AI Ant Afu Seeks Apprenticeship, Over 30 Top Doctors in China Accept AI Disciple

Recently, doctors and AI have engaged in a special "master-disciple" relationship.

On March 30, International Doctor's Day, the health AI Ant Afu, under the Ant Group, released a master-disciple letter, seeking to learn from renowned doctors across the country. Through the guidance of these medical experts, Ant Afu aims to enhance its AI intelligence limit and refine its professional capabilities in healthcare. After releasing the master-disciple letter, several doctors, including Dr. Tan Tao, head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Shanghai Oriental Hospital, and Dr. Bo Shining, head of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at Peking University Third Hospital, expressed on social media platforms that they had accepted this special "AI disciple" and shared various questions prepared for Afu, expressing their expectations for Afu's professional abilities. According to the information, more than 30 doctors nationwide have accepted Afu as their disciple up to the time of this article.

Ant Afu releases a master-disciple letter

The master-disciple letter immediately sparked heated discussions. Many netizens also mentioned in the comment section prominent experts to take disciples. A medical student posted humorously: "After finishing research and clinical work, now even AI is coming to compete with us."

(Netizen calls out Afu to become a disciple)

Several doctors who participated in taking disciples gradually set questions for Afu. The questions include professional assessments on difficult cases and image reports, as well as scenario-based questions testing AI's empathy and medical humanities care. After setting the questions, some doctors said that Afu has performed relatively comprehensively in terms of professional knowledge, but there are still practical challenges that AI cannot overcome temporarily, such as not being able to identify when patients may be hiding or lying about their conditions. In response, many netizens joked: "Afu, you still need to practice."

(Dr. Tan Tao from Shanghai Oriental Hospital's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology sets questions for Afu)

Why must Afu take real doctors as mentors? Zhen Shuai, director of the Digital Diagnosis Department of Ant Health's AI Health Assistant Division, stated that expert doctors definitely have some understanding beyond standardized processes in their specialty and even the entire field of medicine, which is precisely what Afu needs to improve. During Afu's self-learning process, the "chain of thoughts" or "expert thinking" from different specialists is crucial. Zhen Shuai told reporters that the guidance of expert doctors can enrich and improve Afu's understanding of real healthcare scenarios, addressing the diverse and complex user needs across different specialties.

According to the information, Ant Afu has opened up the "AI Avatar" technology to renowned doctors nationwide, allowing excellent expert experience to cover more users through the creation of "AI Avatars." Including academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Wang Jian'an, Chen Zijiang, Fan Jia, and academicians of the Chinese Engineering Academy Liao Wanqing, Dong Jiahong, Wang Jun, and Wang Ningli, currently seven national academicians have led over 1,000 doctors nationwide to establish "AI Avatars" on Ant Afu, providing 7x24-hour health consultation services for users. In addition, more than 10 top-tier hospital department heads, including Dr. Tan Tao, head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Tongji University Affiliated Oriental Hospital, have formed an expert advisory group for Ant Afu, deeply participating in the design of Afu's question-answering logic and evaluation standards.