Wolters Kluwer survey: 3 in 4 clinicians fear AI deskilling as adoption soars
70% of nurses and 75% of doctors use AI weekly, but worry about losing critical thinking.
A new survey from Wolters Kluwer Health reveals a striking tension in healthcare: while AI adoption is accelerating rapidly, clinicians are deeply worried about its impact on their own skills. Among the 1,000+ respondents, nearly three-quarters expressed concern that AI tools could lead to “deskilling” — the gradual loss of critical thinking, manual expertise, and independent decision-making that comes from relying too heavily on automated systems. The concern cuts across roles: primary care physicians, specialists, nurses, and even administrators all flagged similar fears.
Yet the same survey shows that these worries are not slowing down usage. 70% of nurses and nearly three-quarters of doctors now report using AI at least once a week in their daily workflow — for tasks such as clinical documentation, imaging analysis, drug interaction checks, and patient triage. The findings echo broader debates in medicine about balancing efficiency gains with the preservation of clinical intuition. As AI becomes a co-pilot rather than just a tool, healthcare organizations are now faced with designing training programs and safeguards that ensure AI augments rather than replaces human judgment.
- Nearly 75% of clinicians fear AI will cause a loss of critical thinking and decision-making skills.
- Despite concerns, 70% of nurses and ~75% of doctors now use AI at least weekly in clinical work.
- Common AI applications include documentation, imaging, drug checks, and triage — raising questions about long-term skill erosion.
Why It Matters
Healthcare leaders must balance AI’s efficiency gains with preserving clinical judgment — or risk a generation of deskilled practitioners.