Dermatológia pre prax 2/2026

Artificial intelligence and empathy

According to recent studies in UK, artificial intelligence (AI) outperforms human doctors in empathy. However, this statistic does not only highlight its capabilities, but rather points to problems in the health care system. The following two questions are also related to this: Why does AI suddenly appear to be more empathetic? Can healthcare workers still show any empathy at all when they are busy? The answer is simple! Exhausted doctors, overwhelmed by electronic administration, are losing the battle for empathy with machines. This convincingly argues that we are heading artificial intelligence in the completely wrong direction. In one sentence: AI beats doctors in empathy because we have turned doctors into robots. We should use it also more to deal with „paperwork“ so that doctors can focus more on the human connection with the patient. Otherwise, we run the risk of using AI to replace the very thing that makes the medical field a complex therapeutic science: real human intelligence, medical education, and professional care.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, empathy, doctors, health system