A growing tendency towards using AI-generative tools for self-diagnosis and self-treatment is a matter of major concern, said a senior health expert, stressing that such tools are not substitutes for human intervention in clinical judgement.
Dr Jitender Nagpal, the deputy medical director of Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research here, said artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming an enabling layer in healthcare delivery rather than a replacement for human decision-making.
In India, where healthcare systems operate under constraints of time, workforce, and scale, AI has the potential to improve efficiency, consistency, and safety across the continuum of care, he said.
One of the most visible transformations has been in the speed and accuracy of administrative and clinical processes, such as record keeping, documentation, audits, and reporting, which have traditionally consumed a substantial proportion of clinicians’ time.
By assisting with structured documentation, summarisation, and review, AI allows healthcare professionals to focus more on direct patient care. On areas where caution needs to be adopted, Dr Nagal said that while AI has shown significant promise, its adoption must be cautious, ethical, and context-appropriate.
“A major concern is the growing tendency toward self-diagnosis and self-treatment based on AI-generated outputs, which can be unsafe and misleading.
AI tools are not substitutes for clinical judgement, physical examination, or contextual understanding of a patient’s social and medical background,” he said.
Overconfidence in AI outputs, by both patients and healthcare professionals, can lead to errors if limitations are not clearly understood, he cautioned. (PTI)
