Artificial Intelligence and Humanistic Medicine: A Symbiosis.

Medicine is a human endeavor aided by a sophisticated set of diagnostic tools. Healthcare systems are challenged with incorporating new and unfamiliar technology into existing systems of practice. As diagnostic tools such as artificial intelligence have entered the realm of clinical practice, new opportunities have arisen to optimize healthcare delivery. Overreliance on AI may lead to the dehumanization of medicine. However, with appropriate implementation, AI can free up time and resources to allow healthcare providers to focus on aspects of care that are unique humanistic. Effective medical practice requires availability of data, application of information, and appropriate clinical judgement. A large portion of modern patient care takes place without the presence of the patient. AI has shown the potential to synthesize and summarize vast amounts of data from medical records, clinical trials, and best-practice guidelines. By tailoring all available data to each case, AI can serve as an asset in enhancing diagnostic accuracy and increasing the efficiency of healthcare delivery. However, clinical decisions made between patients and their physicians cannot be reduced to a set of parameters, code, or logic trees. Clinical judgment and the implementation of available information remains necessarily human tasks. Only through a strong therapeutic relationship built on trust and empathy can shared decision making and compliance be attained. We propose a framework through which AI and humanistic medicine can build on one another to create a symbiosis of the highest possible caliber of patient care and healthcare quality.