Scientists at the Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology in China have developed an AI-powered nanny to care for embryos in artificial wombs.

The apparatus, consisting of the AI nanny and multiple artificial wombs, is presently caring for mice foetuses. The device is made up of a complex system of fluid containers creating an ecosystem for embryo development, along with a series of fluid controllers and oxygen supply. An optical device fitted over the embryo container monitors the embryos and feeds information to the AI nanny.

“The in vitro embryo culture online monitoring system developed in this paper can track and record the morphological characteristics of the development process without affecting the embryo development, and provide a basis for the evaluation of embryo development and the optimization of  the vitro culture system, ” scientists said in their research paper.

Existing international guidelines around the usage of human embryos for research purposes prohibit human foetuses from being used for testing.