While AI tools are transforming healthcare, human doctors remain essential for empathy, judgment and ... More hands-on care

In just a few short years, artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT have gone mainstream. Today, AI writes emails, plans vacations and even helps predict stock market trends. AI in healthcare can answer complex medical questions, analyze lab results and even pass medical board exams.

Microsoft recently announced the development of a new AI program they claim is 4x better than doctors in diagnosing complex illness.

So will AI soon replace doctors?

Bill Gates seems to think so. In a recent appearance on The Tonight Show, he predicted AI could eliminate the need for doctors “for most things” within a decade, ushering in an era of low-cost, robot-led care. Think Baymax from Disney’s Big Hero 6.

But Gates is wrong.

AI will profoundly reshape medicine in the coming years as program developed by Microsoft and others are integrated into medical practice. Yet it won’t replace most of what physicians actually do — at least not anytime soon. Instead, AI is becoming medicine’s smartest assistant, helping doctors work more efficiently and deliver better care.

The argument for replacing doctors hinges on the idea that AI is already taking on core medical tasks. It’s true that AI excels with analyzing digitized data.

Consider radiology, where physicians spend much of their time interpreting X-rays, CT scans, MRIs and other tests. A 2019 Lancet Digital Health

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