“The sky is falling! After the patient DeepSeek questioned my treatment plan, I was so angry that I checked the guidelines myself again, only to find that the guidelines had been updated……”
Recently, Guangdong medical blogger “Lonely Fang Self-Appreciation” posted a sigh, which attracted widespread attention. This seemingly dramatic but real scene reflects the shock caused by AI technology in the medical industry: Will doctors be replaced when AI comes? Can people use the prescriptions prescribed by AI to see a doctor with confidence?

As AI continues to deepen its integration, the healthcare industry is undergoing unprecedented changes. Based on its powerful data processing and learning capabilities, AI has shown great potential in the medical field: in a multidisciplinary consultation at Beijing Children’s Hospital, the country’s first “AI pediatrician” was highly consistent with the advice given by 13 experts; With the help of AI, the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center has compressed the radiotherapy process for nasopharyngeal cancer from more than 10 days to 30 minutes. Beijing Tiantan Hospital applies AI doctors to stroke first aid, and a few minutes after the patient has completed the examination, the doctor can view the diagnosis of the AI doctor, which is about half an hour faster than a real person……
What’s more noteworthy is that the iteration cycle of medical knowledge has been significantly shortened, and clinicians are often difficult to digest in time due to their busy work, while AI can theoretically complete the comparison of massive literature screening and guidelines in an instant with real-time updated databases and algorithm models.
So, can AI completely replace human doctors?
Definitely. Human beings are complex living beings, and medicine is a science of uncertainty and the art of possibility. No two leaves in the world are exactly the same, and no two patients are exactly the same. The same disease, the same treatment, can produce different results in different people. A good doctor must adjust the treatment plan at any time according to the physical condition, disease characteristics and psychological needs of each patient. The complexity of the process is comparable to finding an exit through an intricate labyrinth, and each step requires careful consideration.
More importantly, medicine is not only a science, but also a human science that “cures occasionally, often helps, and always comforts”. AI may be able to interpret symptoms, but only doctors can truly understand the person in pain. When patients trust their health with trust, and doctors protect hope with professionalism, this kind of emotional support that goes beyond the technical level is exactly what AI cannot give.
Another point that should not be overlooked: the AI diagnosis process is like a “black box”, which hides a certain risk of misdiagnosis – AI’s diagnosis and prescription are based on the results of training on a large amount of data, and theoretically speaking, the more comprehensive and accurate the data, the more reliable the diagnosis and prescription. However, if the data is biased, incomplete, or the algorithm is flawed, the AI diagnosis results may be incorrect.
Because of this, as early as 2022, the National Health Commission and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine jointly issued the “Detailed Rules for the Supervision of Internet Diagnosis and Treatment (Trial)”, which set a “red line”: medical institutions to carry out Internet diagnosis and treatment activities, prescriptions should be issued by the attending physician himself, and the use of artificial intelligence and other automatic generation of prescriptions is strictly prohibited. At the end of the day, medical decisions ultimately rely on the clinical experience and intuition of human doctors.
When technology is advancing rapidly, it also needs to be constrained by the system. How to prevent medical safety risks? How is medical data secured? In the face of these challenges, there is an urgent need to develop regulatory standards to avoid the misuse of technology.
The development of science and technology is unstoppable, but the temperature of medical treatment will always need to be guarded by humans. The relationship between AI and doctors is by no means a zero-sum game, and when AI helps doctors free themselves from tedious affairs, doctors can focus more on the diagnosis and treatment process. In this wave of innovation set off by AI technology, only with technology as the boat, safety as the rudder, and humanity as the sail, can the medical industry sail towards a better future.