On Thursday, Microsoft joined the running list of tech companies that have rolled out a healthcare-focused chatbot this year.
The tech giant is rolling out Copilot Health — a new feature in its Copilot platform that aggregates users’ medical records, wearable data and health history to deliver personalized health insights and guidance.
This launch comes amid a flurry of similar moves by other major players. Anthropic and OpenAI kicked off this year by announcing healthcare-focused large language models for consumers, and just this week, Amazon expanded access to its AI-powered health assistant developed with its primary care arm, One Medical. Epic also offers a digital companion for patients, which is called Emmie.
These moves were inevitable, given hundreds of millions of people per week are turning to large language models to answer their health-related inquiries.
Microsoft released a report this week showing that its consumer products respond to more than 50 million health questions from users each day. The analysis found that nearly one in five health conversations with Copilot involve users describing their symptoms, interpreting test results or asking questions about managing ongoing conditions.
Dominic King, vice president of Microsoft AI, said the company is launching Copilot Health to help people better understand their health and show up better prepared for conversations with their providers.
“This is our path toward medical superintelligence, AI that brings the breadth of a general physician and the depth of a specialist to everyone. Copilot Health is not intended to replace clinical advice from doctors and nurses but to support and guide consumers and patients with insights and information,” he said in a statement sent to MedCity News.
The tool was developed with input from Microsoft’s internal clinical team, as well as an external panel of more than 230 physicians from more than 24 countries. It can combine health guidance with an individual’s personal health data, letting users track trends over time and plan for future visits with their doctors, all while promising to keep information private.
The platform isn’t open to all users yet — those interested must join a waitlist to try it.
Photo: MR.Cole_Photographer, Getty Images
