Yes, AI will replace clinicians.

Thanks to my clickbait title, you might now be wondering 'I KNEW IT!'

But it's just clickbait. I don't believe AI will replace clinicians at all. I think AI will actually enhance the value of clinicians beyond what it is now. 

How?

First, let's ask this inverted question.

If I DID want to be replaced with AI - what could I do?

If you wanted to watch a video on this, watch below! Otherwise, read on :)

 If I wanted to be replaced by AI, I would reduce my job to these things:

-Incessant focus on education ONLY treatments
-Cookie cutter rehab programs that are based off existing literature
-Zero individualisation of treatment plans
-Be so interpersonally useless that nobody even wants to have a conversation with you
-Never use manual therapy again
-Bring zero personality into consults
-Treat every patient like a robot and not a human

When I put it that way - it sounds kind of silly, doesn't it?

It's silly because it is. As health professionals, patients come to see US, and we are more than just the 'papers' or 'exams' we did at university. We are humans with the ability to creatively process information, connecting seemingly abstract information to form effective treatment plans. 

We can also sense another human's emotions - their pain, their suffering and become support personnel in their lives. We can facilitate their healing by providing our professional expertise, but also through demonstration of care. 

This cannot be replaced by AI - at least not yet. 

AI will force us to change, but in my opinion - it'll force us for the better. And the three key ways I believe it'll do this are by:

1. Equalising the informational playing field will improve ethical practise and shift patient rehabilitation to experiential
2. Forcing creative innovation in practitioners
3. Bringing the HUMAN element back into healthcare

Let's break it down.

Equalising the Informational Playing Field

Imagine you are a patient at the moment. You've self-diagnosed your knee pain as patella tendinopathy, and come up with a rehab plan courtesy of ChatGPT. The plan is 6 weeks long, gives you three distinct phases of pain management beginning with isometric loading, moving onto tempo concentric-eccentric and plyometric. 

It's a pretty decent program, and as a clinical expert, you can't fault the program. And even if you did, with the rate AI is growing - your criticisms will soon be 'taught' to it. It's only a matter of time before AI will deliver better clinical information than most therapists. In fact, I'm fairly certain it already does.

This is what I'm saying - the day where your value was derived from what you read and learnt through study is going to reduce to almost obsolete.

Don't get me wrong, I think you should still spend plenty of time reading up on the latest research. But using that as the value that you give to your patients is not going to be very powerful. Because imagine this...

The patient above walks into the treatment room and you perform a diagnosis, and you outline the exact same treatment plan. What's the patient going to think? 

'I got this after 10 mins of probing on ChatGPT and it didn't cost me anything.' 

Exactly. 

So what if we were to assume that they already know everything you were going to tell them? What else could you do to add value to them? 

This brings me to the objective of this paragraph. 

If every patient already knows what you know from an information standpoint - what's next? 

After the age of information, comes the age of experience. This means people are going to seek acknowledgement and the EXPERIENCES behind the information. You, the therapist, will become a facilitator of their pain experience. 

You, become a guide on their journey, teaching them how to apply information. When this information is useful for them, when it isn't.

Let's use the patella tendon example. How are you going to help them process the pain and emotional experience behind rehab? 

Reading on ChatGPT that 'a bit of pain after rehab is normal' is not the same as you standing next to them, reassuring them in a calm tone that a slight ache during their squats is okay. Not only this, but before they leave, reassuring them that they're doing well, with a laugh and pat on the back improves their rehab experience. 

This is why by equalising the informational playing field, it saves you time from having to constantly explain the same condition over and over again. In fact, you might even want to use AI to curate information packs you like to give your patients just so you don't have to explain yourself constantly and focus mainly on the patient experience. 

Additionally, if all patients become health literate, isn't this a good thing? Scammy, pretending clinicians who will do anything for the dollar will no longer be able to use their credentials to fear-monger patients. I recall one clinician who told a client of mine she had 'tennis elbow' and the tendon needed to be 'massaged back into place'. When I assessed her, she had very obvious muscle wasting of her triceps, acute neck pain and pins and needles down her neck. No tenderness at her lateral epicondyle. I mean, I was never THAT great as a clinician, but even I knew the diagnosis was dogshit. 

When I warned her that it doesn't sound right, and she should get a second opinion... her treating clinician badgered her with calls saying 'the tendon won't get better' unless she goes in for treatment. 

AI will help phase that bullshit out. Obviously there's downsides to AI, like how Dr Google scares everyone into cancer. But I think AI is smart enough, and not incentivised to 'clicks' that it won't immediately show the most clickbaity information. 

Now that everyone has access to information, you can't rely on 'information' as your main value driver anymore, which moves me onto my next point.

  AI will force Innovation in our Field

Like every technological advancement before AI, it forced innovation in every field. There's a lot of fear mongering around 'AI' but we've adapted so far to technological disruptors (some of them we've adopted VERY quickly). 

For example, a Theragun is a tool that most clinicians didn't see as a technological disruptor. But it did, because now patients had a DIY tool for 'massage'. Clinicians also now use this gun to protect their fingers from repetitive use. There was never any 'fear mongering' around how the Theragun would replace chiros/physios/osteos. 

Another example would be something like Google Sheets. It removed the need of paper programs. Clinicians could now create a program from anywhere in the world, along with video exercises they could upload to YouTube (another disruptor) to service the patient. 

So my point is - it's not about the technology/tool itself, it's about how do we use this tool to enhance what we do, or are already doing. 

So ask yourself - what have I always wanted to create in my rehabilitation service? What is now available to me, and my patients given the introduction of AI?

Personally, I believe rehabilitation spaces will move toward group, semi-private experiences and  AI will play a very large role in that. Imagine this - you can train your own AI rehab bot that is focused on the methodology and approach of your clinic. After assessing your patient, you will enter their details into your trained AI-bot, which will then spit out a rehab program. You will approve or make some modifications, and this AI will ALSO have the videos ready. 

The patient is then given the rehab program, where they will visit your rehab centre under the supervision of an EP or physio who will guide them as necessary. This will shift rehab into a 'membership', semi-private experience. This could only be possible because of AI, not without it. Otherwise, your clinicians would be spending all their time explaining, demonstrating the same exercises repeatedly. 

Be creative and embrace AI for all the opportunities it'll give you. Don't be afraid of what it'll replace. Because whatever it replaces, means more time for you. And more time means more attention. And you get to choose what to do with your attention. 

Lastly, and the most important progression (or regression) is the re-focusing of our role on the  human element. 

What does this mean?

If you equalise all information - all that's left is our unique character, personalities, and paradigms. It becomes less about what you know, but rather who you are, how you apply information, and the way you make others feel. 

In other words, it's about you, the human. 

Let me show you with an example. If you were to hire a lawyer, with the law at your fingertips - do you really need them to regurgitate information to you? They're probably using ChatGPT to answer your questions too. So no - you don't.

So if you do need a lawyer to represent you, it won't be about the 'information' they possess. It's going to be about whether you trust them, whether you believe they have your best interests at heart, whether they've taken the time to truly understand what your problems and goals are. 

You will soon choose your lawyer based off whether their unique character is the right fit for you.  This is an incredibly important distinction to make, because you can no longer get away with 'business is business', 'personal is personal'. Eventually it'll be, I've chosen this person for business because they are personal to me.

The same will occur with health professions. It's only a matter of time.

Concluding Thoughts

I'm sure AI will surprise us all, and by no means will this short little blog encapsulate the extent of evolution driven by it. But the top three points, I am certain of. 

1. Equalisation of the informational field will drive ethical practise and the focus of 'care' to 'experiential.'
2. Forcing practitioners to be creative which will drive innovation in the field
3. Forcing the 'human' element back into healthcare

So to recap - will AI replace health professionals? 

In short - yes. The ones who do not utilise it for the next evolution of health care. It's here to stay, so instead of being afraid of it, learn about it, use it and ultimately deliver an even better experience for your patients.

Wishing you success,
Phil