Human-Machine Competition

Ping An's AskBob Doctor's AI Matches Doctors' Capabilities in Cardiovascular Disease Management

HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, Oct. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An" or the "Group", HKEX: 02318; SSE: 601318) announced that Ping An's AskBob Doctor has demonstrated that its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in cardiovascular disease management is comparable to human doctors. AskBob Doctor scored 97.7 points, compared to 93.9 points for a team of doctors, at a competition organized by the Great Wall International Congress of Cardiology 2020 and the Asian Heart Society Congress 2020, the National Clinical Research Center of Cardiovascular Diseases, Ping An Smart City and Ping An Good Doctor, a leading one-stop healthcare ecosystem platform in China that includes online medical services.

In the competition, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Beijing Friendship Hospital, and Peking University International Hospital each sent two resident doctors in cardiology to compete with AskBob Doctor's AI technology. AskBob Doctor was operated by a Ping An employee, who clicked the buttons of "Read Medical Records", "Require Extra Information of Disease History and Medical Inspection" and "Medical Treatment Solutions".

The organizers provided nine medical cases for both the humans and machines in the competition, which focused on the integrated management of cardiovascular diseases such as atrial fibrillation, coronary heart disease, hypertension and hyperlipidemia. Participants  were provided the medical records, and could request further information on the patients' medical records, examinations or test results. After receiving all the information, the participants provided a final treatment solution, including medicine prescriptions, lifestyle advice and follow-up procedures. AskBob Doctor provided answers for all nine cases, while the six doctors were divided into three groups to provide answers for three cases each.

Three experts assessed the submissions provided by AskBob Doctor and the human doctors in an anonymous review process. The experts assessed the rationality of the medication prescription and the validity of the advice, as well as the nature of requests for additional information. According to the experts, AskBob Doctor received 97.7 points while the doctors' teams received 93.9 points based on the average score of the nine cases. In addition, based on on-site observation, the doctors took 10 to 15 minutes to complete a submission for each case, while AskBob Doctor responded within one to five seconds per case after the staff completed just three clicks to issue instructions.