AI in healthcare is here to stay, but doctors must remain the final decision-makers: experts

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an integral part of healthcare and is here to stay, but the skills, judgement and critical thinking of medical practitioners will remain central to patient care, experts said at a webinar on "The Future Doctor: Balancing Clinical Experience with Technology" organised by SRM Institute of Science and Technology, in association with The Hindu.

The panellists comprised R. Jayanthi, Dean, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre; Vivek N, Dean (Dental), SRM Kattankulathur Dental College and Hospital; Ritubhan Gautam, Head – Global Health, Deep Tek.ai; and K. Ganapathy, Honorary Distinguished Professor, IIM Jammu, Distinguished Professor, Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, and Emeritus Professor, National Academy of Medical Sciences.

Dr. Jayanthi said AI has become an important part of healthcare and medical education, and doctors and institutions must adapt to the AI era. She stressed the need for medical students to develop AI literacy and a strong “verification reflex”, ensuring that AI-generated information is checked against trusted sources and does not undermine clinical reasoning and critical thinking.

AI should support clinical decisions, but doctors should never outsource their responsibility to the technology, said Dr. Ganapathy. He underlined the importance of strengthening judgement, empathy and accountability, and of asking the right clinical questions while assessing how reliable an AI prediction is for a particular patient and setting.

In dentistry, Dr. Vivekpointed to the growing role of AI in automating several aspects of diagnosis and treatment. At the same time, he said, the technology remains a decision-support tool and cannot replace the dentist, who must continue to make the final clinical decision.

From a public health perspective, AI can act as a force multiplier in areas where specialist clinicians are scarce, said Mr. Gautham. He said it could make screening more accessible in rural and underserved settings and help prioritise patients requiring urgent attention, while accuracy, bias and clinical oversight remain important considerations.