The Replicant Will See You Now: Artificial Intelligence and the Right to a Human Physician

As artificial intelligence (AI) advances rapidly toward the development of human-simulating replicant physicians, society must determine whether patients will have a right to treatment by human doctors. While replicants may offer efficiency and cost savings, they will lack qualities such as authenticity that many patients value highly in their relationships with doctors. The potential implementation of replicant physicians in healthcare risks the creation of an inequitable two-tiered system in which only the wealthy have access to human doctors. If society does not wish to see such a system develop, steps must be taken proactively to ensure a right to a human physician.