The future of veterinary consultation in a world premiere at the London Vet Show 2024

Turin, 14 November 2024 - Today, at the London Vet Show, one of Europe's most prestigious veterinary events, AITEM S.r.l., a Turin-based company specialising in generative AI and a spin-off of Dumarey Automotive Italia S.p.a., has premiered a major global advancement in LAIKA, the first AI platform specifically designed to support veterinarians in clinical management and daily decision-making processes. Already active in the Italian, French, and British markets, LAIKA now introduces a chatbot upgrade that enables veterinarians to access information and consultations hands-free, allowing them to work without interruptions. A constantly available colleague, always ready to respond with maximum efficiency, enhancing the fluidity and speed of consultations directly in the field.

«LAIKA stands out as a vertical, expert conversational agent for the veterinary sector, powered by a combination of AI language models known as Large Language Models (LLMs), which provide immediate answers to clinical questions posed by veterinarians in clinical and emergency contexts.» - explains Davide Tricarico, CTO of AITEM. Developed to optimize time management and enhance the resources and skills of individual veterinarians, LAIKA is the result of a collaboration between experienced AI engineers and veterinary professionals: a patented system, continuously updated and already tested by over 100 medical directors.

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Davide Tricarico

At the world premiere of the latest technological innovations being developed for LAIKA, the new speech-to-speech feature was introduced, promising to transform interactions between veterinarians and AI. Thanks to this advancement, veterinarians can now communicate with LAIKA simply by speaking rather than typing, making the experience seamless and efficient.

This feature allows a responsive, human-like avatar to reply, delivering critical real-time information. LAIKA's AI maintains its high accuracy in interpreting vocal input, leveraging the most advanced veterinary knowledge available.

The advancement of LAIKA's technology is made possible by strategic partnerships with NVIDIA, Scaleway, and the vHive Animal Health Incubator. Collaboration with NVIDIA through the Inception program has granted AITEM access to NVIDIA NIM technology, providing a competitive edge in developing GenAI models for LAIKA. Meanwhile, being part of the Scaleway Startup Program has allowed AITEM to access high-performance HPC infrastructure, ensuring exceptional performance while keeping solutions economically sustainable. The support of these two partners has been crucial in accelerating LAIKA's innovation and performance, transforming it into an AI colleague that is increasingly intuitive and indispensable for veterinarians. Furthermore, through AITEM's admission to the vHive Animal Health Incubator - a strategic alliance between Zoetis and the University of Surrey in collaboration with SETsquared - LAIKA benefits from sector expertise and has established a strong presence in the United Kingdom. The contributions of these partners are essential in accelerating LAIKA's innovation and growth, making it an AI colleague that is increasingly intuitive and essential for veterinarians.

In an era where artificial intelligence is profoundly impacting the workforce across various sectors, including veterinary medicine, LAIKA aims to support veterinarians by simplifying everyday tasks, particularly in high-pressure environments such as hospitals, where speed and precision are crucial. LAIKA provides real-time consultative advice, from anamnesis to treatment selection, diagnostic pathways, examination and causation analysis, to formulating differential diagnoses. By supporting veterinarians in clinical data analysis, LAIKA enables them to focus on developing targeted treatment plans, offering reliable support in clinical decision-making and acting as a complementary tool rather than a substitute for professional judgment.

«Every day, veterinarians around the world are dedicated with the utmost effort to taking care of animals. They face complex decisions, bearing the responsibility of patients' lives on their shoulders, and often live with the pain of not being able to save each of them.» - explains Massimiliano Melis, COO of AITEM. «Between 1979 and 2015, according to data from the U.S. CDC National Center for Health Statistics published in 2019, close to 400 veterinarians died by suicide and almost 60% experienced work-related stress, anxiety or depression so severe that they required professional help. That's why we created LAIKA: a knowledgeable AI colleague that helps them make the hardest decisions, manage their workload, and ensure that every patient receives the best possible care. Basically, an ally who takes care of them while they take care of others.» This is the concept of LAIKA. 

Massimiliano Melis

«LAIKA's speech-to-speech functionality marks a significant evolution in the concept of an avatar, focusing not only on functionality but also on enhancing the quality of human interaction.» - continues. « We're leaving behind Industry 4.0 for Consultation 5.0, as LAIKA's speech-to-speech feature is designed to go beyond mere efficiency to foster a more empathetic, personalised, and collaborative communication with veterinarians, also taking into account aspects of well-being, emotional support, and relational engagement.»

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About us

LAIKA was born in 2022 with the aim of supporting veterinarians in taking care of their patients, simplifying their work, and thus reducing the extremely high burnout levels in the sector. An ambitious project, which was born thanks to the close collaboration between expert engineers in artificial intelligence and the best specialists in the veterinary field.

LAIKA is developed by AITEM SRL, specialised in generative AI and a spin-off from Dumarey Automotive Italia Spa, part of the Dumarey group, known for creating technologically advanced systems. Thanks to this union of competencies, we have created the veterinary colleague who can provide more insights and a deeper perspective on various topics for the well-being of dogs and cats.

Press office contacts

[email protected]
+39 334 609 1071
Via Pier Carlo Boggio 59, 10138 Turin, Italy

Source: LAIKA