Google is training machines to predict when a patient will die

A nurse updates a patient's chart on a laptop at ProMedica’s Heartland facility in Sylvania, Ohio, U.S., May 14, 2018. Picture taken May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron Josefczeyk

A woman with late-stage breast cancer came to a city hospital, fluids already flooding her lungs. She saw two doctors and got a radiology scan. The hospital’s computers read her vital signs and estimated a 9.3% chance she would die during her stay. 

Then came Google’s turn. An new type of algorithm created by the company read up on the woman – 175,639 data points – and rendered its assessment of her death risk: 19.9%. She passed away in a matter of days.