How AI Is Being Used in Healthcare — and What It Means for You

Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere these days, including healthcare. If you’ve heard about it, you might picture robots roaming hospital halls or computers making life-or-death decisions. But the reality is much more practical — and much more personal.

AI isn’t here to replace your doctor. No chatbot or large language model (LLM) is a substitute for expert medical care. Instead, AI isgiving healthcare teams better tools to care for you, and it can make a big difference for your well-being.

We talked to experts about some of the real ways AI is already making healthcare better and how it could help improve your care in the future.

The role of AI in healthcare

In simple terms, artificial intelligence refers to the use of computers to do certain tasks that usually require human intelligence. It’s being used in healthcare (and countless other sectors) to allow people to work more effectively and efficiently.

That’s what new technologies have always been about. Think about it like this: If you’re traveling from New York to London, would you rather go by airplane or rowboat? If you need to get word to your boss that you’ll be late for work, would you rather send a text or a telegram? AI technologies are just the latest innovations that can help get things done faster and better than before.

“AI is no longer an experiment,” says Ben Shahshahani, PhD, Cleveland Clinic’s Chief AI Officer. “It’s a real, scalable tool that can support patients, providers and health systems — improving outcomes, reducing stress for caregivers, and making care more accessible and efficient for everyone involved.”

6 ways AI is helping improve your healthcare

AI is already behind the scenes in many hospitals and clinics. Here are some of the ways it may help your providers help you.

1. More confident diagnoses

Accurately reading X-rays, MRIs, CTs, ultrasounds and other diagnostic images makes all the difference in getting the right care. And certain AI tools are trained to spot early signs of trouble that might be easy to miss — even for trained human eyes.

This is especially helpful in screenings like mammograms, where small changes can signal early breast cancer. AI tools can flag areas of concern for the radiologist. These tools may also reduce the number of false positives, which means fewer unnecessary callbacks and less worry.

Your healthcare team may also use AI to:

• Interpret images to identify broken bones, brain aneurysm and other concerns
• Track nodules over time to detect cancer
• Flag potential concerns that might otherwise be overlooked
• Support diagnostic decision-making

2. Faster care for emergencies

In a medical emergency, like stroke or pulmonary embolism, time is everything. Some hospitals now use AI programs that analyze images the moment they’re taken. That means if someone has a blocked blood vessel, AI can flag it right away and alert the team.

“We save precious time by having AI be the first and fastest agent to triage those images,” says diagnostic radiologist Po-Hao Chen, MD. “If you find a person who’s having a stroke, you can mobilize resources to treat it.”

AI also helps emergency teams prioritize care by:

• Triaging people based on urgency
• Alerting the medical team automatically
• Coordinating care behind the scenes to keep everyone in sync

“AI gives us the extra speed we need when every second matters,” Dr. Chen emphasizes.

3. Tracking changes in your health

AI is helping healthcare providers zoom out and see the big picture — and make more informed treatment decisions over time.

Take lung nodules, for example. If your doctor spots a small spot on your lung during a scan, they might not know right away if it’s something to worry about. They’ll typically recommend regular follow-up scans to look for changes.

“The ones that grow are more likely to be cancer,” Dr. Chen explains. “The ones that don’t are more likely to be benign. That’s why tracking them is so important.”

Until recently, radiologists manually measured nodules and compared the measurements to see if they’d changed between scans. But there could be small variations in measurements from one radiologist to the next.

With AI tools automatically noting and measuring nodules, nothing gets missed or lost in translation.

“It makes follow-up care more consistent and helps us know when something needs a closer look,” he adds.

4. Personalizing care

AI is also opening new doors for tailoring treatment plans to your specific needs.

“We’ve learned there’s a lot more we can discover using AI,” says epilepsy specialist Lara Jehi, MD.

Dr. Jehi is leading research on how machine learning is helping epilepsy surgeons make more informed decisions. Traditionally, doctors relied on someone’s test results and the surgeon’s experience to decide whether they’d benefit from surgery. But it was hard to tell who would respond best to which surgical technique.

Now, AI tools can analyze massive amounts of patient data — from brain scans to genetic profiles — and develop more personalized care plans based on what’s worked for similar patients before.

“With AI, we’re getting deeper insight from the same tests we’ve always used,” Dr. Jehi explains. “It’s helping us match the right treatment to the right patient.”

5. Supporting research and innovation

AI isn’t just helping today’s patients. It’s also speeding research that may lead to tomorrow’s breakthroughs.

“Biomedical research is shifting,” Dr. Jehi notes. “AI helps us analyze genetic data, protein interactions and more, all of which can help create new treatments faster.”

With AI, researchers can more easily interpret large amounts of data. That may help them:

• Develop new medications
• Understand how diseases work
• Discover biomarkers that predict disease risk or treatment success
• Personalize treatment to a patient’s unique biology
• Combine patient data to uncover larger health trends
• Make clinical trials more efficient by identifying ideal participants and flagging early results

And that’s just a short list.

Reliable research is meant to be deliberate. Scientists test, refine and confirm results to make sure they're solid. But AI may help speed up the most tedious parts, turning reliable research into real-world benefits for you and your loved ones, faster than ever before.

“I see AI as a path forward where no data is left behind,” Dr. Jehi shares. “The more insight we have, the more meaningful care we can deliver.”

6. Streamlining administrative tasks

Behind every appointment is a mountain of paperwork — visit notes, prescriptions, records, scheduling and more. AI is freeing up time so your care team can focus on what’s important: You.

“There’s a shortage of caregivers and a lot of burnout. Much of that comes from administrative tasks,” Dr. Shahshahani explains. “AI helps reduce those burdens, freeing up time so clinicians can focus more on patients — and patients notice that difference.”

For example, AI-powered notetaking tools can now “listen in” during appointments (with your permission). That means your provider isn’t spending your precious visit time typing into your chart. They’re spending it connecting with you.

AI also powers virtual assistants and chatbots that handle simple tasks, like:

• Pulling up your medical history faster
• Helping you schedule a follow-up appointment
• Sending medication reminders
• Supporting virtual visits

It also plays a big role behind the scenes in cost and operations. “AI can help us automate things like billing, documentation and pre-authorization that take a lot of time,” Dr. Shahshahani adds. “That helps us save costs and better allocate our resources.”

The future of AI in healthcare: The promise and the caution

AI has the potential to make your healthcare smarter and safer. Dr. Shahshahani believes the biggest breakthroughs ahead will come from AI-powered personalized medicine and preventive care. With access to everything from genetics to smartwatch data, AI can help identify what treatments work best — and help spot issues early.

“It’s not possible for humans to absorb all of that information at once,” he says. “But that’s exactly what AI can do well — sift through years of data and make sense of what’s most important for that individual patient.”

But responsible use matters.

For example, researchers have raised potential ethical concerns about AI and called for more responsible AI implementation — including protecting patient privacy and promoting responsible use of data.

The World Health Organization and others have advised caution when using large language models (a type of AI used in platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.ai). These tools aren’t meant to provide medical advice and often “hallucinate” — introducing errors that can cause harm.

“These systems aren’t built or approved for medical use,” Dr. Shahshahani clarifies. “They’re scanning public information, not your personal health history. Always bring your concerns to a doctor who can interpret the full picture and make safe, informed decisions with you.”

Your healthcare team is still — by far — the best and most trusted resource for you to get the care you deserve. But what AI is doing today is making it easier for your team to focus on the things they do best: getting to know you, understanding you and making sound decisions with you.