Artificial intelligence (AI) and health are inseparable. AI diagnoses diseases in the human body and assists with surgery. It is more accurate than people and makes decisions faster. Patients can also receive treatment more comfortably. According to market research firm Precedence Research, the global medical AI market is expected to grow from 38 trillion won last year to 876 trillion won in 2034.
Overseas big tech companies are also jumping into medical AI. U.S. companies Microsoft (MS), Google, and Apple have successively announced medical AI results. Now, they are not just supporting doctors but have produced results that diagnose more accurately than doctors. They are also expected to handle infectious disease and cancer tests and serve as the brains of surgical robots.
In Aug., MS compared diagnoses by 21 doctors in the United States and the United Kingdom with 5 to 20 years of experience to its in-house medical AI, MAI-DxO, using 304 patient cases introduced in the international journal New England Medical Journal (MEJM). The AI showed a diagnostic accuracy of 85.5%, surpassing 20% of the doctors. According to MS, the AI doctor delivered more accurate diagnoses than humans while incurring an average 20% lower expense.
Last year, Google released results of its medical AI Med Gemini diagnosing from chest X-ray images. When doctors were shown the results without being told they were from AI, 72% said Gemini's diagnoses were similar to or better than those of doctors. Google is also developing AI to provide medical consultations to astronauts with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Apple is offering in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere an AI feature on the Apple Watch, a wrist-worn smart device, that alerts users to hypertension risk. The AI learns vascular responses and pulse data from Apple Watch wearers over 30 days. It then detects signs of high blood pressure without directly measuring it like a blood pressure monitor, helping prevent various diseases.
Surgical robots are also being equipped with AI. In July, a research team at Johns Hopkins University in the United States announced in the international journal Science Robotics that a surgical robot equipped with its self-developed medical AI, SRT-H, perfectly performed eight pig gallbladder removal surgeries. Earlier, the university's research team succeeded in enabling the surgical robot da Vinci to skillfully perform suturing like an actual doctor using only AI machine learning that showed it surgical videos of experienced physicians.
Domestic corporations have also rushed into developing medical AI. Naver developed AI that supports doctors. Representative examples include Smart Survey, which automatically converts a doctor's examination notes into medical terminology and stores them in the electronic medical record (EMR), and Patient Summary, which analyzes past screening results to recommend appropriate tests.
AI medical devices that detect malaria infection have also emerged. Noom developed technology that uses AI to analyze blood sample images to find malaria parasites. It also diagnoses cervical cancer. When a cartridge with stained cervical cells is inserted into the medical device, the AI examines cell morphology to determine whether it is cervical cancer. In particular, women can conveniently manage their health even in areas with weak medical infrastructure.
DeepCARS, an AI medical device developed by VUNO, analyzes a patient's blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and body temperature to alert to the risk of cardiac arrest within 24 hours. It was introduced to medical settings in 2022. Koh Young Technology developed the robot Geniant Cranial for surgeries on brain diseases such as epilepsy and brain tumors. In Jan., it received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and entered overseas markets.
Research to predict disease risk with AI is also active. A research team led by Lee Sang-yeol, professor of endocrinology and metabolism at the College of Medicine at Kyunghee University (head of Kyung Hee Digital Center), developed an AI model to predict whether patients with type 2 diabetes will develop chronic kidney disease within five years. Complications of diabetes can be detected in advance and prevented. The study was published in July in the international journal Diabetes Care.
The future of medical AI can be seen at HIF 2025, held on Nov. 6 at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. HIF is co-hosted by ChosunBiz, the business-focused outlet of the Chosun Media Group, and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), with sponsorship from the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The theme of this year's event is "AI and advanced regeneration: crossing the boundaries of healthcare." Speakers include Yoo Han-ju, head of the Digital Healthcare LAB at Naver Cloud; Lim Chan-yang, CEO of Noom; Jung Kyu-hwan, former VUNO founder and associate professor at the Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences and Technology at Sungkyunkwan University; and Ko Kyung-cheol, executive director at Koh Young Technology.
Event overview
△Event name: 2025 Healthcare Innovation Forum
△Date and time: Nov. 6, 2025 (Thu.) 9:00 a.m.–4:20 p.m.
△Venue: Westin Chosun Hotel, Sogong-dong, Seoul, Grand Ballroom
△Theme: AI and advanced regeneration: crossing the boundaries of healthcare
△Hosts: Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), ChosunBiz
△Sponsor: Ministry of Health and Welfare
△Registration and fee: https://e.chosunbiz.com
△Inquiries and registration: 02-724-6157, event@chosunbiz.com