Why should medical "beta testing" happen in a third-world country? Is there some reason the higher risk of an experimental procedure is more acceptable there than (say) Boston or Dallas?
Unfortunately doctors are a lot less prevalent in a lot of developing countries, especially in subsaharan Africa. If an AI can do a third of the things that a doctor can do, that means that many more people can be treated. In the US, it just means that the appointments can be cheaper. So the developing countries have a lot more to gain from things like AI. The US and other developed countries should be doing more to help the situation, including training and paying doctors to work in those countries, but AI can potentially save a lot of lives there in the meantime.
Of course, AI can only save lives if it works reliably, which doesn’t seems to be the case yet, but that hopefully can be overcome.
It really isn't. Some countries can produce a trained physician for less than the cost of a new MRI machine. And beyond the capital expense those machines are expensive to operate due to technicians, maintenance, consumable supplies, power, etc.
This is in contradiction to my experience working on medicine in Africa, where there are often very well trained people coping with a water system that doesn't always work.
Of course, AI can only save lives if it works reliably, which doesn’t seems to be the case yet, but that hopefully can be overcome.