Artificial intelligence will soon help paramedics recognize heart attacks
This could save a lot of lives

When someone goes into cardiac arrest, "the chance of survival decreases about 10 percent with each minute," said Adele Peters at Fast Company. Time is of the essence. Recognizing that the patient has actually entered cardiac arrest — the first step in treatment — is difficult, particularly if the symptoms are being "relayed by a panicked friend or relative." In Denmark, emergency dispatchers "now have help from AI."
(Courtesy image)
When someone calls for an ambulance, an AI assistant called Corti transcribes the conversation, using machine learning "to analyze the words and other clues in the background," like someone gasping for breath, that point to a heart attack diagnosis. "The dispatcher gets alerts from the bot in real time." The technology, soon available in the U.S., "is an example of how artificial intelligence can supplement, not replace, humans."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
August 2 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include a tariff self-own, rough times at the Trump golf course, and more
-
5 inexcusably hilarious cartoons about Ghislaine Maxwell angling for a pardon
Cartoons Artists take on the circle of life, Ghislaine's Island, and more
-
Ozzy Osbourne obituary: heavy metal wildman and lovable reality TV dad
In the Spotlight For Osbourne, metal was 'not the music of hell but rather the music of Earth, not a fantasy but a survival guide'