CHINESE financial technology giant Ant Group’s artificial intelligence health management app, which recently rebranded to Ant Afu from AQ, has become China’s largest AI healthcare app by users.

Ant Afu’s monthly active users have exceeded 15 million, about 55% of whom are from third-tier cities or lower, according to official data.

Health management apps were initially considered as low-frequency apps in the internet industry, as users typically seek services only when they are ill. But with the rapid development of AI, major Chinese online consultation platforms are becoming traffic entry points for high-frequency users.

The more user consultation data is uploaded, the better health management apps can train AI large language models.

About 70% of questions from patients are basic issues related to pregnancy, which are often repetitive, said Duan Tao, director of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Shanghai East Hospital. AI health apps can help relieve some of this repetitive workload for doctors and enable the partners of pregnant women to participate more effectively in the care process, he added.

Duan’s AI avatar on Ant Afu has already completed 160,000 consultations, with 24% of them coming from male users.

Over 500 renowned Chinese doctors have launched AI avatars on Ant Afu. They have answered a total of more than 27 million healthcare consultations.

China’s healthcare industry is expected to exceed 20 trillion yuan (US$2.8 trillion) this year. As traditional service models struggle to meet diverse healthcare needs, AI health management apps are presenting tremendous development opportunities.

However, these apps can only serve as auxiliary tools for health management and do not engage in diagnosis and treatment. In fact, medical procedures, such as prescribing medication, examinations, and surgeries, must still be performed by qualified healthcare professionals.(SD-Agencies)