Doctors urged to lead on medical AI use

The American Medical Association (AMA) is calling for physicians to take the lead in shaping the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine. According to the AMA, existing regulatory, licensure, and liability frameworks were not designed for AI and need to be updated.

Dr. John Whyte, CEO and executive vice president of the American Medical Association, warned that doctors and patients are moving ahead with AI tools more quickly than health systems can keep up. The AMA is pushing for stronger AI policies, sustainable funding models, and care delivery reforms to ensure physicians guide how AI is built and applied in healthcare settings.

Defining the Role of AI in Medicine

The AMA stresses that distinguishing between AI as a clinical aid and AI as a direct extension of medical practice is urgent. With both patients and doctors rapidly adopting AI, unresolved questions about accountability must be addressed promptly, according to Dr. Whyte.

A joint initiative by the AMA and the Federation of State Medical Boards has introduced a collaborative roadmap. This framework outlines key steps, including setting industry standards, gathering evidence for safe AI use in clinics, and defining protocols for deploying and tracking AI performance in real-world settings.

Ensuring Patient Protection and Trust

As AI increasingly handles medical tasks, determining where support ends and actual medical practice begins is vital for safeguarding oversight and patient welfare, the AMA notes. Dr. Whyte clarified that while automation can streamline routine procedures, it cannot replace the core of medicine—human expertise and judgment—so physicians must establish clear boundaries for AI’s role.

The AMA and the Federation of State Medical Boards report “AI and the Practice of Medicine: Examining Accountability and Responsibility in the AI Era” is based on the organizations’ joint forum held in September in Washington, D.C. The report modernizes oversight, accountability, and liability frameworks and establishes how responsibility for AI-related patient harm should be assigned.

Humayun J. Chaudhry, president and CEO of the Federation of State Medical Boards, stated that medical boards’ primary duty remains unchanged: protecting patients. Yet as AI assumes responsibilities traditionally held by licensed doctors, he argues that patients need clear answers about who oversees their treatment and bears liability if errors occur.

To maintain trust and patient-focused care, the AMA argues that AI integration must prioritize safety, openness, and fairness while reinforcing the physician-patient bond and ethical standards. The AMA’s Center for Digital Health and AI, alongside the FSMB’s AI regulation workgroup, will collaborate with industry partners to push these goals forward.

The FSMB’s workgroup intends to publish preliminary guidelines and recommendations for public feedback in December. These proposals will then be put to a vote by the FSMB House of Delegates in April 2027, allowing stakeholders to influence the final direction of AI policies in medicine.