Rethinking the Integration of AI in Learning and Assessment in Health Professions Education

This perspective highlights the urgent need to rethink how academia in health professions education (HPE) engages with artificial intelligence (AI), moving away from a reactive, enforcement-driven mindset toward a more forward-looking, educationally sound approach. The current culture, shaped by suspicion, moral panic, and unreliable detection technologies risks undermining fairness, student trust, and meaningful learning. The current assessment models built for a pre-AI world may no longer be fit for purpose, and universities must redesign assessments to prioritise real-time demonstration of competence, higher-order skills, and authentic learning experiences that AI cannot replicate. Central to this shift is the development of robust AI literacy for both students and faculty to promote responsible and authentic use of AI, and enable learners to critique and verify its outputs, and how to integrate it as a legitimate learning partner rather than a prohibited shortcut. By embracing AI with clarity and purpose, HPE can move from policing to empowering, ensuring that assessments remain credible and learning remains relevant in an AI-driven future clinical environment.