Physician use of artificial intelligence has doubled since 2023, reflecting growing confidence in the technology and what many doctors think is the potential to reduce burnout.
A survey of nearly 1,700 physicians the AMA released last week found that 81% of physicians use AI in their work. That number was only 38% in 2023.
The survey, which contacted physicians from Jan. 15 through Feb. 2, 2026, found that more than three-quarters of respondents said AI provides an advantage in the ability to care for patients, an increase from 65% in 2023.
Physician uses of AI
Here are some of the top ways physicians are using artificial intelligence:
- 39% of physicians are using artificial intelligence to summarize medical research and standards of care. That number is up from 13% in 2023.
- Discharge planning. 30% are using AI to create discharge instructions, care plans and progress notes. That number is up from 20% in 2023.
- 28% are using the technology to document billing codes, medical charts or visit notes. That number is up from 21% in 2023.
- Chart summaries. 28% of physicians are using artificial intelligence to generate chart summaries. That number is up from 12% in 2023.
- Portal messages. 19% are using AI to create draft responses for patients to see in patient portals. That number is up from 9% in 2023.
- 18% of physicians are using the technology for translation services. That number is up from 14% in 2023.
- 17% are using the technology for assistance in making a diagnosis. That number is up from 12% in 2023.
About 70% of respondents to the survey said they see opportunities for AI to automate clinical and administrative tasks contributing to burnout. Along those lines, more than half of physicians said they’re optimistic using AI to document billing codes/medical charts/visit notes and to generate chart summaries, even though only 28% are currently using the technology for those purposes.
By the end of the year, 70% of respondents said they expect to be using artificial intelligence to summarize medical research, up from the 39% who are using the technology now. Sixty five percent of physicians said they expect to use AI to create discharge instructions, care plans and progress notes, even though only 30% are currently doing so. And 64% of respondents said they plan to be using the technology to generate chart summaries by the end of the year.
Physician concerns about AI
When the survey asked concerns physicians have about using artificial intelligence, the top concern was patient privacy. Forty-one percent of survey respondents identify privacy, making it the biggest concern among physicians The next top concern was the technology’s effect on the physician-patient relationship, which 34% of physicians identified as a major worry about AI.
When asked how artificial intelligence will affect physicians, 70% of respondents said they were very or somewhat concerned about the loss of skills in trainees. Forty percent were concerned that their colleagues would lose their clinical skills, and 28% were worried that they would lose clinical skills because of AI.
Finally, 30% of physicians said they thought that most of their patients were using AI. Seventy percent of doctors said that using AI chatbots to get health information or decision-making is positive and has no impact.
In fact, majorities of physicians surveyed want patients to use AI for things like questions about medications and side effects (68%), researching general health questions (64%), answering specific questions about their health (55%) and reviewing notes from their last visit (60%).
Many physicians, however, said they prefer patients avoid AI for tasks requiring clinical judgement. Nearly half, for example, said they would never want patients using AI to interpret radiology or pathology results.
