Tomorrow's doctors are robots: Redefining healthcare education and practice in the technological revolution

Abstract

Parody is an important form of imitation that can be used to critique problematic assumptions and discourses. We use parody in this article to warn against the overzealous infusion of artificial intelligence (AI) into healthcare and healthcare education. In doing so, our intention is not to discount some potential benefits of carefully considered AI integration into these contexts. Rather, we call readers' attention to important aspects that could also be lost (e.g., caring human relationships, human agency, or careful appreciation of diversity and context) by going too far in reorienting healthcare around AI- and data-powered technologies. As such, we have cited sources that contrast with, or critique, the ironic points made within our text. We encourage readers to take these sources and their arguments seriously while enjoying our joke at the expense of the carefully crafted and, hopefully, exaggerated AI systems. For parody to work, it must be distinguishable from intentional and straightforward accounts. We recognise that our own writing, while farcical to us as the authors, may not be so to all readers, particularly since the discourse around AI—fuelled by for profit companies and evangelists—is often characterised by great hype and promise of more efficient, effective and utopian futures.