Google’s AMIE gets an early real-world urgent-care test

Google tested its research medical chatbot, AMIE, with 98 adults before urgent primary-care appointments at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Patients described their symptoms by text, and the bot produced a visit summary and a list of possible diagnoses for the doctor; physicians monitored every exchange live, and none met the study’s threshold for a safety stop. Doctors said the summaries helped them prepare in 75% of cases and influenced care in more than half, while AMIE’s list included the eventual diagnosis in 90% of cases. The result matters because it moves medical AI from simulated exams into a clinical workflow, but it was a small, single-center feasibility study—not evidence that a chatbot can replace clinicians, who still produced more practical and cost-effective treatment plans.