AI in Medicine: Doctor Raises Concerns About Clinicians Being Replaced by Technology

Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dhruv Khullar, MD, MPP, examines one of the more pressing questions in modern healthcare: could AI eventually push clinicians out of their roles? The piece doesn’t offer easy reassurance. Instead, it sets out the genuine anxieties many in the medical profession hold, then weighs them against arguments drawn from economic theory.

The debate matters because it sits at the intersection of patient safety, workforce planning, and what medicine is actually for. AI tools are already being used in radiology, pathology, and diagnostics — so this is not a distant hypothetical.

NEJM Executive Managing Editor Stephen Morrissey spoke with Khullar about the full argument in an accompanying interview. The economic counterarguments Khullar references typically centre on the idea that technology tends to augment skilled workers rather than replace them outright — but he engages seriously with the limits of that view rather than simply accepting it.

The NHS has been actively exploring AI-assisted tools across several clinical settings, and NHS England has acknowledged both the promise and the workforce questions that come with it. So far, official guidance frames AI as a support for clinicians, not a substitute.

For patients, the practical question is whether AI involvement in their care is something they’ll even be told about — and current NHS frameworks are still catching up with that.

Anyone with questions about how AI is used in their NHS care can raise them with their GP or care team. For general health queries, NHS 111 is available by phone or online.