The Machines Are Getting Ready to Play Doctor

An algorithm is spotting heart problems better than an expert doctor

It might not be long before algorithms routinely save lives-as long as doctors are willing to put ever more trust in machines. A team of researchers at Stanford University, led by Andrew Ng, a prominent AI researcher and an adjunct professor there, has shown that a machine-learning model can identify heart arrhythmias from an electrocardiogram (ECG) better than an expert.