Chapter 1: A.I. (1)

"First-year doctors, please come in one by one. Yes, over there. Through that door. Don't touch anything else."

Yang Won-joon, the head of the Education and Training Department at Tae-hwa University Hospital, pointed to the large laboratory.

Yang Won-joon, who is also a professor in the Department of Anatomy at the School of Basic Medicine, had a very proud look on his face.

'They must have never seen anything like this before.'

Unlike other university-affiliated research labs, this room had no smell of chemicals.

Instead, the room was filled only with the humming noise of machines.

"Wow... this is..."

"Amazing."

The first-year internal medicine residents at Tae-hwa University Hospital, who followed Yang Won-joon inside, let out exclamations of amazement at the giant screen in front of them.

Lee Su-hyuk, standing at the front, was no different.

"Wow..."

In fact, Su-hyuk's mouth was even more agape, unable to take his eyes off it.

'This is... Baruda.'

He muttered to himself, looking at the giant screen and the hardware facility behind it, which was so large that its size was hard to estimate.

This was the device that had led him to choose internal medicine, despite graduating fourth in his class from Tae-hwa University Medical School, one of the best in South Korea.

'I hope... it was worth turning down orthopedics, rehabilitation medicine, and otolaryngology...'

It was a bit embarrassing, but when Su-hyuk chose his specialty, what mattered most to him was not the sense of fulfillment he would gain from it, but its future prospects.

In that sense, choosing internal medicine was a kind of gamble.

Despite being one of the most important departments in modern medicine, it was not one of the most lucrative.

"Wow."

"Amazing."

While Su-hyuk was momentarily lost in admiration, exclamations continued to be heard from all around.

Yang Won-joon, who seemed very familiar with such reactions, waited with a gentle smile.

Of course, it was natural.

Baruda had never been revealed to the general public.

It had only been occasionally mentioned in terms of its achievements.

Even so, it had already garnered significant attention, so it was inevitable that there would be such amazement upon seeing it in person.

"Hmm."

He only spoke again after the first-year residents' small commotion had died down.

"This is Baruda, the diagnostic A.I. being jointly developed by the professors of Tae-hwa University Hospital and Tae-hwa Electronics."

Baruda.

Named after the Korean word for 'to heal,' this A.I. was considered to have the greatest potential among all diagnostic A.I.s currently in existence.

Although it was still in its infancy compared to Watson, which had been in development for nearly a decade in the United States,

as a latecomer, it had the advantage of superior hardware and software from the start.

Watson had run into numerous obstacles and almost reached the point of project cancellation, so currently, Baruda was the most anticipated diagnostic A.I. in development.

'And it's also receiving a lot of concern from the medical association.'

Su-hyuk nodded, looking at the massive main unit, which was as impressive as the screen.

Baruda was designed to provide the most appropriate diagnosis by accessing a vast database when a doctor properly inputs the results of their examination and interview.

Given the vast scope of medical knowledge and its rapid development, it was still far from commercialization.

However, with a few adjustments to certain variables, its diagnostic accuracy was already quite good.

"Let's see. When we input this data..."

Yang Won-joon, the head of the Education and Training Department, entered data from the internal medicine department into the Baruda system.

The patient's gender, age, symptoms, the time the symptoms appeared, the doctor's observations, blood test results, and more.

Almost all the test results conducted in the hospital were included.

Whirr.

As soon as the input was complete, Baruda made a loud noise and produced an output.

[Patient Park Sang-gi]

[1. Pneumonia due to pneumococcus, 89%]

[2. TB, 8%]

[3. Other viral pneumonia, 3%]

The output was just about comprehensible to the first-year residents.

The researcher, not Yang Won-joon, who had been proudly explaining, but someone who looked somewhat bitter, added an explanation.

"The diagnosis made by Baruda is pneumonia due to pneumococcus. Unfortunately, the diagnosis made by the respiratory medicine professor and the radiology professor was tuberculosis. The reason for this error is not due to Baruda's computational ability but rather the errors in the input data."

His explanation continued for a while, but in summary, it was as follows:

Baruda still lacks the human senses of sight, hearing, smell, and touch.

This means it lacks visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile senses.

As a result, the information it can directly obtain from patients is extremely limited.

Limited information inevitably leads to errors in output.

This is why Watson in the United States is also struggling.

The Tae-hwa research team, which started as a latecomer, was acutely aware of this fact, but with current technology, it was difficult to replicate human senses such as sight, smell, hearing, or touch.

"Therefore, as the medical association worries, the commercialization of Baruda is not imminent. We are working hard, but... we haven't seen meaningful results yet. At least until you become specialists and enter the field, this situation won't change. So, you don't need to be too wary of Baruda."

The first-year residents chuckled at the researcher's words.

But no one looked particularly cheerful.

They were more worried about the immediate future than the distant one where Baruda might be commercialized.

The minds of the new residents, who were about to start their first-year duties, were filled with the hell that was about to begin the next day, rather than thoughts about Baruda.

'100-day on-call...'

This was true even for Su-hyuk, who couldn't take his eyes off Baruda.

After all, internal medicine is a department that deals closely with death.

This is why it has become a somewhat avoided specialty.

For this reason, the training was particularly challenging.

How could one be careless when dealing with human lives?

The first-year residents, who agreed to some extent, felt a sudden tension.

"Let's take a look... huh?"

The researcher, seeing the same reaction from the first-year residents year after year, nodded and then looked back at Baruda.

Squeak!

A strange sound was coming from Baruda.

A noise that should never be heard under normal circumstances was growing louder and more distinct.

"What... what's happening?"

The researcher, responsible for software, was not familiar with hardware issues.

So, he didn't immediately realize the danger, only sensing that something was wrong.

"Ouch, it's hot!"

But when he accidentally touched Baruda and felt the heat that could cause blisters on his palm, he realized that Baruda was about to explode, though he didn't know the exact cause.

'This, this!'

The researcher thought about calling the hardware specialist.

But as soon as he looked around, he realized that wasn't the immediate priority.

He wasn't alone in the room.

There were dozens of first-year residents with him.

Evacuation was the priority.

"Everyone, get out! It's going to explode!"

He shouted and pushed the confused residents out.

"What's going on?"

"What's exploding?"

At first, everyone was bewildered.

"Hey, hey! Look at that!"

"Shit, run!"

But a few noticed the abnormality in Baruda and started running.

In the chaos, Su-hyuk, who was at the front, fell, but no one helped him up.

Beep!

Baruda's body started to shake, clearly about to explode.

Everyone rushed to get out.

"Door! Close the door!"

The researcher, who was the first to get out, pointed at the door.

Yang Won-joon, the head of the Education and Training Department, who followed with a panicked look, tried to close the door but noticed someone was still inside.

"Oh, oh!"

Su-hyuk was just getting up and trying to run towards the entrance.

"Wait, wait!"

But Baruda had already exploded, and the researcher, with a furrowed brow, slammed the door shut.

For a moment, he felt a pang of guilt, but it wasn't enough to overcome his fear of death.

"It's too late! If we get caught in it... we'll all be hurt!"

"But still!"

Won-joon tried to open the door slightly, but it was more of a gesture than a real effort.

Naturally, the door remained firmly closed.

"Damn bastards!"

Su-hyuk, reaching the door, cursed and then lost consciousness.

Boom!

Baruda exploded.

It wasn't a normal overheating explosion; it was much more intense.

"Kelok kelok."

About ten minutes later, the door where Su-hyuk and Baruda were trapped was opened.

Fire safety personnel, who had been on standby in the hospital, rushed in.

They sprayed fire extinguishers and found Su-hyuk lying right in front of the door.

"Head! He hit his head!"

"Leg... his leg too..."

The staff lifted Su-hyuk onto a stretcher, noting the blood streaming from his right head and left shin.

"Hey! Be careful!"

The metal fragment in his leg hit the stretcher, making a clinking sound.

"Quick! Call neurosurgery, internal medicine, and orthopedics!"

Yang Won-joon, seeing this, shouted urgently.

The first-year residents, trying to save their colleague and friend Su-hyuk, started making calls.

Meanwhile, the stretcher, leaving a trail of noise, began moving towards the main hospital building.

Rattle.

To the semi-conscious Su-hyuk, the sound of the rolling stretcher seemed like a dream.

[A.I. Baruda, rebooting.]

In the midst of this, a strange sound was heard, so vivid that it drowned out all other sounds.

"Surgery room! Start with the head! What's embedded in it!"

Thanks to this, the urgent voices from outside didn't reach Su-hyuk's ears.

[Data loss, please input data.]

Only the incomprehensible mechanical sounds filled his mind.