Robots are Better than Doctors in Medical Diagnosis

 Pepper is an 'emotional' robot which has been available to buy
since June 2015 ( AFP/Getty Images )
Pepper is an 'emotional' robot which has been available to buy since June 2015 ( AFP/Getty Images )
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Robots are Better than Doctors in Medical Diagnosis

 Pepper is an 'emotional' robot which has been available to buy
since June 2015 ( AFP/Getty Images )
Pepper is an 'emotional' robot which has been available to buy since June 2015 ( AFP/Getty Images )

Artificial intelligence has proved remarkable abilities in diagnosing various conditions and has outperformed specialists in many fields. Russia's Kommersant newspaper reported that a competition was held between an artificial intelligence system designed for medical diagnosis and a group of experienced doctors from various clinics and hospitals in Moscow.

The doctors were given radiographies and analysis, and were asked to verify whether the patient had a tumor or arrhythmia. The same data was entered into the automated system, which gave a more accurate result.

The head of a technical group working on artificial intelligence technologies said: "Artificial neural networks are able to see patterns that humans cannot easily see, so these networks define the areas to focus on during diagnosis. The size of nodal formations of the tumor, for example, may be very small, and often the robot will identify it and guide the doctor to the area he has to focus on." 

However, experts in the medical and technical fields warned from the errors that may occur in the work of artificial intelligence, and explained that doctors' reliance on it would lead to a decline in their experience. 

However, specialists in the development of artificial neural networks assured doctors that this technical development would not be a substitute for them, but would be helpful to them, and will help them reduce the rate of error in diagnosis.

It is worth noting that a team of technical specialists and doctors are currently working on the design of a unified diagnostic system in Russia that depends on artificial intelligence. 

The main idea behind ​​the project is to pump data into this system with information on the most accurate details of diseases, as well as data on the pathology of the patient. 

The system will be trained on diseases' diagnosis. It will not be confined to a specific hospital or residential area, but will be a unified network connecting various medical institutions in Russia. 

The system is expected to achieve a quantum leap in the medical diagnosis field, with more speed and accuracy.



Spain Battles 20 Major Wildfires amid Scorching Heat, Deploys More Troops

Locals collaborate to extinguish a forest fire in Carballeda de Avia, Ourense, Galicia province, north-western Spain, 16 August 2025. (EPA)
Locals collaborate to extinguish a forest fire in Carballeda de Avia, Ourense, Galicia province, north-western Spain, 16 August 2025. (EPA)
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Spain Battles 20 Major Wildfires amid Scorching Heat, Deploys More Troops

Locals collaborate to extinguish a forest fire in Carballeda de Avia, Ourense, Galicia province, north-western Spain, 16 August 2025. (EPA)
Locals collaborate to extinguish a forest fire in Carballeda de Avia, Ourense, Galicia province, north-western Spain, 16 August 2025. (EPA)

Scorching heat hampered efforts to contain 20 major wildfires across Spain on Sunday, prompting the government to deploy an additional 500 troops from the military emergency unit to support firefighting operations.

In the northwestern region of Galicia, several fires have converged to form a large blaze, forcing the closure of highways and rail services to the region.

Southern Europe is experiencing one of its worst wildfire seasons in two decades, with Spain among the hardest-hit countries.

In the past week alone, fires there have claimed three lives and burned more than 115,000 hectares, while neighboring Portugal also battles widespread blazes.

Temperatures are expected to reach up to 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in some areas on Sunday, Spanish national weather agency AEMET said.

"There are still some challenging days ahead and, unfortunately, the weather is not on our side," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told a news conference in Ourense, one of the most affected areas.

He announced an increase in military reinforcements, bringing the total number of troops deployed across Spain to 1,900.

Virginia Barcones, director general of emergency services, told Spanish public TV temperatures were expected to drop from Tuesday, but for now the weather conditions were "very adverse".

"Today there are extremely high temperatures with an extreme risk of fires, which complicates the firefighting efforts," Barcones said.

VILLAGERS RESORT TO BUCKETS

In the village of Villardevos in Galicia, desperate neighbors have organized to fight the flames on their own with water buckets as the area was left without electricity to power water pumps.

"The fireplanes come in from all sides, but they don't come here," Basilio Rodriguez, a resident, told Reuters on Saturday.

Added Lorea Pascual, another local resident: "It's insurmountable, it couldn't be worse".

Interior ministry data show 27 people have been arrested and 92 were under investigation for suspected arson since June.

In neighboring Portugal, wildfires have burnt some 155,000 hectares of vegetation so far this year, according to provisional data from the ICNF forestry protection institute - three times the average for this period between 2006 to 2024. About half of that area burned just in the past three days.

Thousands of firefighters were battling eight large blazes in central and northern Portugal, the largest of them near Piodao, a scenic, mountainous area popular with tourists.

Another blaze in Trancoso, further north, has now been raging for eight days. A smaller fire a few miles east claimed a local resident's life on Friday - the first this season.