After the Pope warned that artificial intelligence risks eroding personal bonds in healthcare, we asked experts for their thoughts \u2013 and heard how, in many cases, AI is already helping to strengthen them.<\/p>\n
AI has a \u201cpervasive\u201d influence on human life \u2013 especially in medicine and healthcare \u2013 Pope Leo said<\/a> on Monday to participants at the International Congress, \u2018AI and Medicine: The Challenge of Human Dignity\u2019\u00a0in Rome. He cautioned that no technology can replace the personal bond between patients and medical professionals, and said that AI must enhance, not erode, human relationships and care.<\/p>\n While there is consensus among healthcare professionals that AI cannot replace interpersonal relationships, they told Euractiv how AI already makes their lives easier.<\/p>\n According to the European trade association COCIR, representing the radiological, electromedical and healthcare IT industry, artificial intelligence supports clinicians in detecting diseases earlier, personalising treatments, and reducing routine workload.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis allows them\u00a0to focus more on their patients,\u201d stressed a COCIR spokesperson.\u00a0<\/p>\n Saving time<\/p>\n The argument is backed up by\u00a0studies<\/a> that show AI tools, like speech recognition, can save clinicians up to an hour a day, time that can be reinvested in patient care.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Marco Marsella, director of digital, EU4Health, and health systems modernisation at the European Commission\u2019s DG SANTE, argued during the European Health Forum Gastein in October that responsible use of AI could bring a \u201cdouble dividend\u201d by improving care and strengthening Europe\u2019s technological sovereignty.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yet not all voices were optimistic about AI\u2019s entirely positive impact on healthcare.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In Gastein, Stefan Eichwalder, director of the health systems division at Austria\u2019s health and social affairs ministry, struck a similar note as the Pope, cautioning that digital tools can become a \u201cbitter pill.\u201d He cited a survey<\/a> linking the use of electronic health records to higher stress and burnout among GPs:\u00a0\u201cToo often, tech meant to support health professionals ends up undermining them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Ethical standards<\/p>\n Pope Leo also raised the issue of trust regarding AI: \u201cHistorical events stand as a warning: the instruments at our disposal today are even more powerful and can produce a still more devastating effect on the lives of individuals and peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n According to him, it\u2019s easy to see how technology and medical research become destructive when used to advance \u201canti-human ideologies\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n