Perspective Chapter: The Doctor–AI–Patient Dynamics

Artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving rapidly, promising major transformations in medicine and surgery, with profound effects on doctor–patient dynamics. While AI is poised to enhance efficiency, clinical accuracy, and individualized care, its integration raises psychological and emotional concerns, including diminished trust, loss of empathy, and threats to patient autonomy. These developments are shaping a new doctor–AI–patient dynamic with an uncertain future. This relationship can remain healthy when grounded in human qualities and values, elements that AI must respect to achieve harmonious integration into healthcare. Patients may experience anxiety or discomfort with AI-led care due to perceived impersonal interactions or a potential loss of agency. Clinicians also face challenges, feeling both supported and replaced by AI, with possible risks to clinical skill preservation. Important issues such as liability, trust, data ownership, and explainability also play central roles. As AI’s influence grows, a careful balance is needed: harnessing its benefits for improved outcomes and efficiency while safeguarding empathy, emotional support, and autonomy within medical relationships. Future healthcare must prioritize a patient-centered approach, preserving essential human elements even as AI becomes more prominent in decision-making. The responsibility of integrating AI into healthcare falls on society, but the physician’s role as the guarantor of health places them in a uniquely influential position to decide how, when, and why AI technology should be used in healthcare. In this chapter, we review the risks and ethical challenges of implementing AI in healthcare and offer key concepts for maintaining doctor–AI–patient dynamics healthy and beneficial in the age of AI.