The most overlooked benefit of AI is not clinical, but human

The following is a guest post from Roy Willsvice president, responsible for health activities and partnerships at Intellias

The conversation around artificial intelligence in healthcare has been dominated by clinical promises for years. We often hear about earlier diagnoses, more accurate imaging readings, predictive analytics, and personalized treatment plans. And yes, all of this is transformative.

But it misses what may be one of AI’s most urgent contributions to healthcare today: restoring the human experience of care.

Healthcare systems around the world are facing a workforce crisis that technology alone cannot solve, but can significantly alleviate. Clinician burnout now threatens patient safety, access to care, and the long-term functioning of health systems. Arguably, in this context, the greatest value of AI lies in what it gives back to clinicians: time, focus and professional satisfaction.

Burnout is no longer a secondary problem

Today, many doctors spend more time interacting with computers than with patients, devoting hours to documentation and administration of electronic health records (EHRs). In the United States in particular, clinicians report spending on average 28 hours per week on administrative work. This burden falls particularly heavily on primary care, where documentation requirements, inbox volume, and unpaid digital communications take a toll on already overburdened primary care teams.

The consequences of this charge are serious. For some doctors, this contributes to a feeling of burnout, while others drive it out of the practice altogether. Workforce attrition compounds access issues, particularly in underserved communities, making burnout a very real system-level risk.

It is encouraging that clinicians themselves see AI as part of the solution. In an American medical association investigationabout two-thirds of physicians expressed enthusiasm for AI, particularly for administrative use cases. And this distinction is important, because clinicians aren’t looking for AI to replace their own judgment, but they want access to tools that remove the workplace frictions that prevent them from practicing medicine.

AI works effectively in the background

This is where AI comes into its own, as a silent workflow tool designed to absorb administrative and cognitive load.

Ambient documentation – often called digital or ambient AI scribes – is one of the clearest examples. These systems use speech recognition and natural language processing to listen to clinician-patient interactions, generate structured medical notes, populate diagnostic fields, and support real-time billing and coding. The goal here is for technology to stay in the background, so that human-centered care can come to the forefront.

Early evidence suggests this approach works. A study has shown that digital editors can increase documentation effectiveness nearly threefold. Significantly, a multicenter assessment across six U.S. health systems – a mix of academic medical centers and community hospitals – found that after just 30 days of using an ambient AI scribe for patient visits, the percentage of doctors reporting burnout dropped from about 52% to 39%, representing a 74% lower chance of experiencing burnout.

These advances are tangible because they address some of the root causes of burnout, including time loss and mental exhaustion. When clinicians no longer need to duplicate information, copy redundant information, or supplement notes long after clinical hours, they regain control of their time. The sense of agency thus gained can be profoundly powerful for the individual.

The cumulative effects of a lighter load

Of course, documentation is only one piece of the administrative puzzle. Inbox management is another major contributor to overload. Even before the pandemic, family doctors spent on average 1.5 hours per day managing inbox messages. Today, U.S. clinicians receive nearly three times as many messages in their inboxes as their international counterparts, many of which are system-generated and of low value.

Meanwhile, patient portal messages – although only a small percentage of total volume – require special attention and have increased significantly since the pandemic. AI-based triage, routing, and automated response technologies are increasingly being used to manage this flood quickly – and smarter.

By filtering, prioritizing and routing messages to the appropriate care teams, these tools reduce unnecessary interruptions and protect clinicians’ cognitive bandwidth. The result is not just faster responses, but more sustainable communication.

What is less well understood is how these improvements impact healthcare operations. Better documentation leads to cleaner coding, cleaner coding leads to fewer denials, and fewer denials strengthens financial performance. Not to mention the downstream reduction in administrative rework. Consistent follow-ups also improve continuity of care and patient confidence.

Rehumanize clinical work, not replace it

None of this is to say that AI adoption is risk-free. Poorly designed systems can do the opposite of what is intended: adding complexity, eroding clinical skills, and creating new forms of work rather than eliminating old ones. And there are legitimate concerns about job losses and over-automation, which is why values-aligned implementation must be a priority.

That’s why today’s most successful AI tools in healthcare share a common philosophy: they are designed to support clinicians, not complement them. They focus on eliminating low-value-added work, while preserving – and improving – the clinician-patient relationship. And when implemented wisely, AI can, indirectly, help restore a sense of purpose that many clinicians believe is disappearing. This can allow them to train at the top of their game, listen more attentively, and leave work without always feeling exhausted.

The Invaluable Human Return of AI in Healthcare

In most cases, it is not a lack of innovation that health care suffers from, but a lack of human capacity. As burnout accelerates, no amount of clinical intelligence will matter if there are not enough clinicians capable of providing the care needed.

This is precisely why the true, and perhaps most overlooked, value of AI lies not in clinical understanding, but in reconstructing the human experience of care delivery – the very foundation of our healthcare systems.

About Roy Wills

Roy Wills is a senior healthcare technology and engineering services executive with over 25 years of experience driving growth, innovation and operational excellence in global markets. As Global Head of Healthcare, Life Sciences and Cloud Partnerships at Intelliashe leads end-to-end strategy, sales and delivery for North America, accelerating digital transformation for enterprise customers.

For the past eight years, Roy has led sales, operations, go-to-market strategy and strategic partnerships within the healthcare and life sciences industry. He has built high-performing teams and developed complex businesses to generate sustained revenue growth.