Tech giant Microsoft has unveiled a powerful new artificial intelligence tool that it says can diagnose medical conditions four times more accurately than experienced doctors.
In a blog post released on Monday, Microsoft announced the results of a test involving 304 complex medical case studies from the respected New England Journal of Medicine. Both Microsoft’s AI system — called the AI Diagnostic Orchestrator and a group of 21 practicing doctors from the US and UK were asked to solve each case step-by-step, just as in a real-life clinic.
While the doctors had between five and 20 years of experience, they were only able to diagnose 20% of the cases correctly. In contrast, Microsoft’s AI, when combined with OpenAI’s o3 large language model, got 85.5% of the cases right.
Microsoft says the AI was also more cost-effective, potentially reducing healthcare costs in a system where up to 25% of expenses are considered wasteful.
“This brings us closer to medical superintelligence,” said Mustafa Suleyman, head of Microsoft AI, adding that the test cases were among the toughest doctors can face.
However, Microsoft stressed that the new system is **not meant to replace doctors, but to support them.
“Doctors do much more than diagnose. They connect with patients and guide them through difficult situations, something AI cannot do,” the company said.
Medical experts also cautioned that while AI can assist with early diagnosis, real-life care still requires human judgment, experience, and empathy.
