Nvidia, a leading chipmaker, has joined forces with Hippocratic AI, an AI healthcare innovator, to create advanced generative AI "agents". These agents are designed to surpass human nurses in effectiveness during video calls and are significantly more cost-efficient. Through this partnership, the companies aim to develop "empathetic healthcare agents" that leverage Nvidia's technology and Hippocratic's specialized healthcare-focused large language model (LLM). These AI agents promise to establish a deeper human connection with patients through highly responsive conversational interactions.

In trials involving over 1,000 nurses and 100 licensed physicians in the U.S., along with numerous healthcare providers using the bots for non-diagnostic purposes, Hippocratic's AI agents demonstrated superior performance. They not only outperformed similar technologies like OpenAI's GPT-4 and LLaMA 2 70B Chat but also exceeded human nurses across various metrics. For instance, in identifying medication impacts on lab values, AI scored 79% against nurses' 63%; in recognizing specific contraindications, AI achieved 88% compared to nurses' 45%.

This collaboration highlights a promising solution to the healthcare worker shortage in the U.S., aiming to enhance access, equity, and patient outcomes. Nvidia and Hippocratic AI emphasize the potential of voice-based digital agents, driven by generative AI, to revolutionize healthcare by providing human-like responses.

Furthermore, the cost benefits of AI agents are notable. Hippocratic's AI agents operate at an hourly rate of $9, a stark contrast to the 2022 median hourly wage of $39.05 for nurses, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This innovation not only promises to improve healthcare delivery but also to do so in a more economically sustainable manner.