Will AI Replace the Hard Work of Empathy?

In a just-published study comparing physician and Chat GPT responses to medical concerns posted on the internet, the responses from Chat GPT were 10 times more empathetic. Part of the increased empathy scores for Chat GPT might be due to the responses being longer (four times longer on average). Looking at examples from the study, you can also see that Chat GPT used more comforting phrases and offered better explanations. Simply put, Chat GPT had better bedside matter.

How does this study fit into the larger conversations about AI? I think it’s unlikely AI will replace physicians. People want a person overseeing high-risk tasks like medical conversations. We see similar trends with AI-driven vehicles; even if the AI-driven vehicles are significantly safer, people would rather have human drivers because the AI-driven vehicles seem to lack accountability. Safe to say, I’m not worried about AI putting me out of a job.

However, AI may help me do my job better. Even if a physician has a stellar base of knowledge and incredible clinical skills, patients’ perceptions of the performance of that physician have been proven to depend on the physician’s communication skills. Empathy takes work, and if you don’t do the work, patients know. I’ve taught about the emotional labor of empathy to countless number of learners. One of my first points I make with them is that empathy takes work.

Here's where AI might come in. While we’ve envisioned AI as a tool with answers, it may be more useful as a tool that takes answers (whether they are identified by AI or docs) and communicates them to patients better than physicians do. We’ve all read about conversations with AI; imagine the potential of AI being the communicator for the physician about information the physician has deemed correct.

This situation may also be an example for how AI will be used more broadly. AI may not replace our work; rather, it may take some of the tasks of work that are hard, perhaps less enjoyable, and make them easier and better for the people we try to help through the work we do. Remarkably, AI’s greatest contribution to medicine may not be its knowledge but rather its kindness.