Nvidia recently announced a collaboration with Hippocratic AI, a healthcare company, on Monday. Hippocratic AI offers generative AI nurses at a remarkably low cost of $9 per hour. This is significantly cheaper compared to the $90 per hour for real human nurses in the US.
Kimberly Powell, vice president of Healthcare at NVIDIA, highlighted, “Voice-based digital agents powered by generative AI can usher in an age of abundance in healthcare, but only if the technology responds to patients as a human would.”
Nvidia is supporting Hippocratic’s real-time responses over video calls. In a demonstration shared by Nvidia, an AI agent named Rachel provides verbal instructions to a patient on how to take penicillin. The agent reassures the patient that all information will be reported to their human doctor. Rachel is just one of many AI nurses offered by Hippocratic, each specialising in different areas such as colonoscopy screening and breast cancer care management, all for a cost lower than minimum wage.
Hippocratic openly promotes its ability to offer cheaper alternatives to human nurses. The company compares the $90 per hour salary of human nurses to the $9 per hour running costs of AI agents. According to a survey, Hippocratic claims its AI nurses outperform human nurses in areas such as bedside manner and education, coming close to satisfaction levels.
This introduction of AI healthcare agents comes at a challenging time for the nursing industry. In 2023, over 32,000 nurses went on strikes across the US, representing a significant portion of all major strikes. Nurses face shortages, which Hippocratic aims to address.
The collaboration with Hippocratic was one of the many announcements made during Nvidia’s 2024 GTC Conference. Hippocratic states that its AI nurses underwent testing by thousands of human nurses and hundreds of doctors. The company’s technology is currently being tested by over 40 healthcare providers nationwide.
“With Generative AI, the incremental cost of healthcare access and interventions is trending to zero,” states Hippocratic on its About page. The company emphasises that its AI nurses are not meant to make diagnoses but rather engage a human when necessary. Hippocratic’s name is inspired by The Hippocratic Oath, which signifies a commitment to doing no harm.
While the collaboration with Hippocratic was significant, Nvidia made several other announcements during the conference. The company introduced new AI chips called Blackwell, which promise faster training of LLMs. Nvidia also expanded partnerships with various organisations, including Google Cloud, solidifying its position as an industry leader in AI.
