Space missions with astronauts on board will get health assistance from Google as the company looks for new frontiers to use its evolving AI tools with NASA. The tech giant is going to assist the space
agency and its troops in space with an AI-powered medical assistant that will be trained to take care of the astronauts who spend weeks or months in their spaceflights for their missions. Having a doctor on board can be a long and expensive exercise so the agency is relying on tech assistance to make this work in a better way.
Google’s AI Doctor For Space Missions
NASA is able to help its crew in space when the missions are short but the longer duration launches need better assistance, especially with varying health concerns. The AI has been designed to handle these issues and even monitor their conditions autonomously. The Crew Medical Officer Digital Assistant (CMO-DA) is being developed to help the crew when they are unable to contact the doctor or anyone on Earth during their mission.
The AI model for medical help offers different ways to chat. You can do it via text, images, and even voice. Google is powering the AI doctor through its high-tech Vertex AI cloud network, which promises efficient performance.
The joint AI effort will allow NASA to own the source code of the app and help Google refine and improve the AI doctor with health and valuable data.
Does It Work?
Early tests of CMO-DA have shown encouraging signs for the space agency. The AI doctor was able to accurately diagnose the issues related to ankle injury, ear pain and more. The report says 88 percent accuracy for ankle-related issues, 74 percent for flank pain and 80 percent for ear pains.
NASA wants the virtual assistant to go beyond the usual health issues and also link the AI model to detect and treat effects of being in space for a long time. Google is clearly using AI beyond the regular tasks and putting it for genuine use. It is helping researchers decipher the language of whale using AI and helping them study the mammals in deep ocean.
