- Ant Afu expands its skin analysis feature to over 100 conditions
- Users can now request tertiary hospital doctors to verify AI results
Ant Group’s health-focused AI application Ant Afu has upgraded its “skin scan” feature, expanding the number of detectable skin conditions from 50 to more than 100, covering what it says accounts for 99% of common online dermatology consultations.
The app also introduced a new “doctor review” function, allowing users—after receiving an AI-generated assessment—to request verification and additional input from physicians at top-tier public hospitals.
The company said the system is the first in China to deploy a structured “AI answer plus doctor verification” collaboration model in a consumer-facing application.
After users submit images through the “skin scan” tool, the app prompts them with an option to invite a tertiary hospital doctor to review the AI’s output.
Once confirmed, the system matches a doctor in about five seconds to reassess the result.
Three free consultations per day
From request to physician response, the full process takes about two minutes. The feature is currently free for a limited period, with users entitled to three free consultations per day.
Internal data showed about 15% of users opt into the doctor review step. Ant Afu said consistency between AI outputs and doctor verification exceeds 90%, with participating physicians drawn from tertiary hospitals across China.
Ant Afu said its AI provides health-related informational services rather than diagnosis, adding that clinical decisions remain with licensed doctors.
‘A second layer of scrutiny’
The “AI plus doctor review” model, it said, combines the speed and scale of automation with “a second layer of professional scrutiny” from clinicians.
Xu Shuqiang, president of the China Hospital Development Institute, said the human-AI collaboration model could accelerate integration between AI and clinical services.
“AI in healthcare is intended not to replace doctors, but to support them in meeting public healthcare needs,” he added.
Digitalizing Chinese hospitals
In early May, Ant said it had provided free AI-assisted medical report analysis services to more than 100 million users nationwide through its Afu app.
On the business side, Ant also has rolled out an integrated suite of services to public hospitals across China, aiming to streamline patient services and reduce administrative workload as part of a digital overhaul of China’s medical system.
