Augmenting physicians with artificial intelligence to transform healthcare: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

We reflect on the progress and prospects of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered transformation in healthcare from the perspective of front-line clinical professionals responsible for care delivery. While there is considerable optimism about the potential of AI, critical gaps in understanding remain that represent fruitful opportunities for economics and management scholars. We outline the ways in which the strengths of AI can compensate for key limitations of physicians. We then focus on productive use of AI by physicians, highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of human-AI teaming. We argue that productive teaming requires research on two critical issues: trust in AI and the redesign of clinical workflow to optimally accommodate artificial and human intelligence synergistically.