AI cannot replace doctors in healthcare: IISc director

Despite the potential of challenging the skills of medical professionals, Artificial Intelligence (AI) cannot replace medical professionals, especially doctors, in providing effective treatment and care, said Prof. Govindan Rangarajan, director, IISc, Bangalore.

In his inaugural address at graduation day, which was organised by Christian Medical College (CMC) at its campus here, Mr. Rangarajan said the fear that AI could replace doctors at some point in the future is not true. It can challenge the abilities of medical professionals, especially doctors, but it cannot replace them. “AI can be used to study certain patterns in medical professionals. It can also be used to store huge amounts of data. Some hospitals have started to use AI for administrative purposes like billing,” he said.

The IISc director said that human skills and empathy are key factors that bring doctors closer to patients in addressing health issues in a compassionate way. These factors give an edge to human doctors over robotics. Patients will prefer to interact and share their health concerns to human doctors than AI.

Highlighting the need to pursue research, Mr. Rangarajan said that young doctors should spend quality time studying research literature. Such a critical reading of research literature will help doctors to judge between commercially marketed medical products and what should be prescribed for patients. Continuous reading should be a routine for medical professionals to enrich their knowledge and also to update themselves in their profession, he said. 

A total of 108 students received their degree certificates. Mr. Rangarajan gave away the best outgoing student award to Esha Joe in the presence of Solaman Satish Kumar, principal, CMC, on the occasion, the press release said.