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NHS to begin trialling AI tech as an alternative to maligned 111 service

The National Health Service (NHS) is to begin trials utilising artificial intelligence (AI) as an alternative to its non-emergency 111 helpline this month, as it looks for ways to make efficiency savings in how it operates.

As part of the six month trial, London-based Babylon Health’s AI app will help almost 1.2m residents in north central London diagnose their non-life-threatening ailments through its simple question and answer interface, according to the Financial Times.

The app works by asking users a series of questions, with each answer filtering out various probabilities and determining urgency as Babylon’s tech instantly filters through a database containing the symptoms of every known illness.

Once completed, the app will then advise users on the urgency of their conditions and what to do less, in a process that claims to be almost 12 times quicker than the comparable helpline service.

The agreement marks a major coup for Babylon in the increasingly crowded healthtech space, although the exact commercial terms of the trial have not been announced.

Speaking to the FT, Babylon’s Chief Executive, Ali Parsa, claimed that the cost savings to the government of so-called, AI robo advisors, could be enormous.

With each call to the NHS 111 helpline costing between £12 and £16, and the service coming in for criticism due to staff shortages and long hold times, the cost and convenience benefits of an AI app are obvious.

Parsa said: “They have armies of people sitting there on the phone, costing them a fortune. If they get sick, they need a replacement in place. The cost difference is not little, it’s huge.”

Founded in 2013, Babylon has attracted funding from DeepMind co-founders Demis Hassabis and Mustafa Suleyman, as well as Innocent Drinks founders Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright.

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