THE University of Essex has joined forces with digital and social specialists to use artificial intelligence to create online GPs and help the NHS save millions of pounds per year.

The university, Suffolk-based specialists Orbital Media and Innovate UK will work with the £250,000 investment project that will exploit Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide medically approved health advice online.

The technology will be used to serve interactive advice via photo-realistic avatars, with focus on minor illnesses of colds, coughs, flu and hay fever, all of which are self-treatable yet take up huge amounts of GP time.

The result of the ground-breaking project aims to be a visual, reliable and robust online health advice service, to meet the rapidly growing demand for online symptom searches.

Taking place through the University of Essex’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) initiative, the project will be managed by a recruited Computer Scientist - known as the KTP Associate - who will base themselves at Orbital Media full-time and work closely with the academic team at Essex.

The project is expected to last for 30 months.

Dr Luca Citi, of the university’s School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering said: “Artificial intelligence and machine learning technology have the potential to transform so many aspects of our everyday lives.

"We are excited about this opportunity to work with Orbital Media to see how we can share our expertise to have a significant impact on how health services might be delivered in the future."

Orbital Media CEO Peter Brady said: “AI has a key role to play in supporting future healthcare needs and this is just the beginning of our exploration into its potential applications within healthcare pathways.

“It’s hugely exciting for Orbital Media to be at the forefront of this cutting edge technology, which could produce genuinely revolutionary improvements for our healthcare system."