New AMA report highlights physician optimism about AI in health care

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The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care nearly doubled in 2024 compared to 2023 — a reflection of growing enthusiasm and decreasing apprehension toward the technology, despite some lingering concerns, according to a new report from the American Medical Association (AMA).

The AMA’s “Augmented Intelligence Research” survey, conducted in November 2024 and published earlier this month, revealed that 66% of physicians reported using AI in their practices in 2024 — a sharp increase from 38% in 2023. This surge is evidence of a growing number of physicians recognizing AI’s potential to alleviate administrative burdens, improve diagnostic accuracy and enhance patient care.

“The AMA survey illustrates that physicians are increasingly intrigued by the assistive role of health AI and the potential of AI-enabled tools to reduce administrative burdens, enhance diagnostic accuracy and personalize treatments,” Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, immediate past president, AMA, said in an organizational release.

“But there remain unresolved physician concerns with the design of health AI and the potential of flawed AI-enabled tools to put privacy at risk, integrate poorly with [electronic health record (EHR)] systems, offer incorrect conclusions or recommendations, and introduce new liability concerns.”

Although physicians have less influence on technology-related decisions in their practices than they’ve had in the past, 52% of physicians prefer to be consulted before AI-related decisions are made, and 31% want to lead decision-making efforts.

A shift toward optimism

The portion of physicians whose enthusiasm exceeded their concerns about AI grew to 35% in 2024, up from 30% in 2023. Meanwhile, those whose concerns outweighed their excitement dropped to 25%, down from 29% the year prior.

Notably, two in five physicians remained equally excited and concerned about AI, reflecting a cautious, but evolving, outlook.

In 2024, a majority (68%) of physicians saw some or definite advantage to using AI tools, an increase from 65% in 2023. The most commonly cited opportunity for AI adoption remains reducing administrative burdens through automated processes, with 57% of respondents highlighting this area.

Top use cases

Physicians’ current usage of AI spans a range of administrative and clinical applications. According to the survey, the most widely adopted AI use cases in 2024 include:

• Translation services: 34% of physicians reported already using AI for translation services. An additional 23% expect to begin using AI for translation services, and another 28% expect to do so within the next two to five years.
• Summarizing medical research: 32% of physicians currently use AI tools to generate summaries of medical research and standards of care, with 23% expected to begin doing so within the next year and another 29% within the next two to five years.
• Documentation support: 31% of physicians report using AI for documenting billing codes, medical charts and visit notes. 24% have plans to incorporate AI-assisted documentation within the next year, and 29% have plans to do so within the next two to five years.

According to the survey, another 31% of physicians currently use AI to assist with discharge instructions and care plans, in addition to assistive diagnosis.

Although 30% of physicians currently turn to AI tools for surgical simulations and guidance, 16% of responding physicians have no plans to utilize AI for these purposes at any point in the future.

Barriers to trust

Despite rising rates of AI adoption in health care settings, physicians identified several critical factors necessary to building trust and facilitating broader adoption.

Nearly half (47%) of physicians ranked greater oversight of AI-enabled medical devices by governing bodies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as the top action needed to increase confidence in AI adoption. Other regulatory actions that would increase trust in AI adoption include:

• Additional requirements regarding payor use of AI in medical necessity determinations: 18% of respondents said this was the most important action.
• Increased oversight of AI tools that are not considered medical devices: 16% ranked this first.
• Additional requirements regarding the disclosure of AI use to patients: 11% ranked this first.
• Additional requirements regarding patient consent for use of AI: 9% ranked this first.

The report also highlighted key facilitators of AI adoption, based on responses from responding physicians. According to the report, 88% of respondents emphasized the need for a designated channel for providing feedback on AI tools. Additionally, 85% of physicians pointed to the importance of data privacy reassurances — down from 87% in 2023 — and 84% stressed that successful AI adoption requires seamless integration with EHR systems.

Other key factors include proper integration into practice workflows, sufficient training and education on AI tools, comprehensive liability coverage, and validation by trusted entities.