WION Health Pulse | Can AI replace doctors? Dr. Nitish Naik reveals how AI invented a disease that never existed

Artificial Intelligence has rapidly evolved and is now part of everyday life. With the rise of platforms like ChatGPT, it has become one of the most talked-about innovations across industries, including healthcare. As its capabilities continue to expand, one question that has emerged in healthcare is whether AI can replace doctors.

At WION Health Pulse submit, the third session explored the growing role of AI & digital integration, Dr Sama Akber, Director, Oxymed Hospital, Dr Rohit Luthra, Robotic Orthopaedic Surgeon & Director, Arcus Hospital, Dr Nitish Naik, Senior Cardiologist and Professor, Department of Cardiology, AIIMS, Dr. Arjun Dang, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Partner at Dr. Dangs Lab LLP took the stage to share their views.

Can AI replace doctors?

Answering the question, “Can AI replace doctors?” Dr. Nitish Naik emphasised that AI is a powerful tool but cannot function autonomously in healthcare.

‘’AI will not be completely autonomous. AI will be completely autonomous, and a robot, will be able to completely supplant a surgeon, and the surgeon will not be there. That would be fictitious because, you know, many things need a human intervention. Although AI, robots can certainly help assist performing tasks. But, we have certainly not reached the state where they can become completely autonomous and completely perform surgery without any human intervention.

"But we should realise that AI is a tool that has to be employed on a correct basis because there are umpteen examples where AI can cause hallucinations. AI can fictitiously bring out diagnoses and suggestions that are completely incorrect," he said.

Shocking the audience, Naik revealed how AI created a disease that never existed. ‘’In the past, there was a case when AI created a new disease which never existed.

‘’Somebody from one of the universities abroad deliberately planted a fake article into a scientific journal. It was a deliberate attempt. It was a disease called, I wonder if you know about it, it's quite famous amongst our community, a disease called 'Bixonimania'. The name itself is incredulous; there is no such disease whatsoever. An article was deliberately planted in the scientific press claiming that there was such a disease. Its symptoms were described and various details were written about it. So, just one article,'' he shared.

‘’It took only two years for AI to generate a whole lot of literature behind it. In fact, once AI recognised this as a condition, it autonomously created information such as the disease prevalence, the symptoms, how it should be recognised, and how it should be treated. If you Google it now, you'll read about it. So, you cannot completely depend on AI because AI draws information from a whole lot of sources. Remember that health information, if it is to be used for generating any sort of background knowledge, has to come from medical journals. But if AI takes information from social media or the lay press, then its interpretations and whatever discussions it forms around that information may be completely incorrect."