Elon Musk, never one to shy from provocation, has declared that artificial intelligence “is already better than most doctors,” warning that automation will eventually surpass all human jobs — “including mine.”
The statement, posted on X, came in response to the story of a cancer survivor who credited ChatGPT with helping her reassess her treatment plan. For Musk, the anecdote was proof that AI is no longer just a futuristic tool but a present-day competitor to human expertise.
His remark has rattled corners of the medical community already grappling with patients who arrive armed with AI-generated diagnoses, treatment suggestions and lab interpretations. “This is a paradigm shift,” said one senior physician at a Delhi hospital. “It’s not about whether AI will be part of healthcare — it already is. The question is, at what cost?”
While AI has demonstrated impressive accuracy in some diagnostic tasks, researchers warn it remains far from infallible. A recent MIT study found that chatbots like ChatGPT can be thrown off by non-medical cues — such as typos or informal phrasing — producing dangerously inaccurate recommendations.
The risks are not hypothetical. In New York, a 60-year-old man was hospitalised after following ChatGPT’s overly restrictive low-sodium diet advice without consulting a doctor. The case, flagged by physicians, is being cited as a cautionary tale about relying on unregulated AI for clinical decisions.
Proponents argue the future need not be a contest between human doctors and machines. “The most powerful model is collaboration,” said a health-tech policy expert. “AI can process vast data at speed, but only humans bring empathy, ethics, and the ability to read between the lines.”
Still, Musk’s words — part warning, part prediction — underscore a truth that healthcare can no longer avoid: the profession is entering an age in which the stethoscope may share its authority with the algorithm.
