Opinion Today: Would A.I. actually make a good doctor?

It gives more accurate diagnoses than human physicians in some cases, but that's not the only way it could help.

View in browser|nytimes.com February 3, 2025 By Neel V. Patel Staff Editor, Opinion A couple weeks ago I woke up on a Monday morning with a fever of 100.4 — far from dangerously high, but enough to keep me in bed. The following day was marginally better, but my fever hadn't subsided at all and a stinging headache was starting to form. I made an appointment at an urgent care clinic down the block. Even on a Tuesday afternoon, things were quite busy. And as far as I could tell, there was only one doctor working the clinic. As a new patient, form after form needed to be filled out. Nurses needed to ask preliminary questions, and as I started to tick off what was wrong with me, I began to regret making the appointment. I was basically listing off all the symptoms associated with a respiratory infection — a nasty one, sure, but nothing really out of the ordinary. Did I really need to get checked out by a doctor just so they could tell me to continue taking it easy? Heavy on my fever-addled mind was a guest essay I had been editing before I fell sick. Written by the cardiologist Eric Topol and the A.I. researcher Pranav Rajpurkar, it explores what kind of role artificial intelligence could play in medical care, especially as its capabilities improve and even surpass those of doctors in certain cases. And so I kept thinking, as I sat in the examination room aching and struggling to sit up, that my predicament might be an example of a case that could be delegated to A.I. I had a good idea what was wrong with me and how to manage my symptoms. What I was looking for was basically someone — or something — to assure me I wasn't missing anything critical. Perhaps someday soon, a properly trained A.I. could do that, while the busy doctor focused on individuals who needed more time and attention. It was a strange realization to come to. I'm often critical of the kind of tech enthusiasts who claim A.I. will improve every facet of our lives. 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