AI is a new tool, but not a solution
I’ve practiced family medicine in Auburn long enough to know most parents aren’t turning to artificial intelligence because they distrust doctors. They’re turning to it because they feel they don’t have many alternatives.
Parents tell me they use AI late at night because clinics are closed and they need answers. They turn to it because they can’t afford another urgent-care bill. They turn to it because they’ve already missed work twice that month for appointments. They turn to it because health care in Alabama is hard to access, especially if you live outside our metro areas.
And they’re not wrong. Alabama’s health care system is strained in ways no algorithm can fix.
We face some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country. We battle some of the highest obesity rates. We are chronically short on mental health providers. Entire regions of our state rely on a single small hospital, or none at all. And primary care shortages continue to grow at exactly the moment we need more – not fewer – primary care physicians.
This is the environment in which AI is gaining traction. Not because it’s better, but because the system feels like it’s leaving people behind.
But we need to be clear about one thing: AI can support, but it cannot replace medical care. Not in rural Alabama, not anywhere.
AI doesn’t listen to lungs or feel lymph nodes. It doesn’t weigh subtle symptoms against a child’s unique history. It doesn’t adjust when new information appears. It doesn’t ask follow-up questions when something doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t build the long-term trust that every Alabama family deserves.
Here’s the harder truth: too many families in Alabama don’t have easy access to a physician in the first place. We’re asking technology to bridge a gap that only investment, training, and workforce expansion can truly solve.
Recently, Alabama has started making new commitments to rural health efforts to stabilize struggling hospitals, expand telehealth infrastructure, and strengthen recruitment pipelines. Those steps matter.
They are overdue and they are welcome.
But they will not fix everything. Not when maternal wards keep shutting down. Not when rural hospitals operate on razorthin margins. Not when young physicians graduate with debt that makes rural practice nearly impossible. Not when mental health care remains out of reach for so many communities.
We cannot pretend that a few new programs will solve problems that were decades in the making. What we need is sustained, long-term investment: •Investment in rural hospitals so pregnant women don’t drive 60 miles for prenatal care.
• Investment in primary care training programs so Alabama grows and keeps its own workforce.
• Investment in mental health access so families aren’t left to navigate crises alone
• Investment in community health so chronic diseases can be managed early, not in emergency rooms.
Technology – AI included – can support those goals, but it cannot lead them.
If you’re a parent who has ever turned to AI because the health care system felt too complicated, too expensive, or too distant, I understand. You’re not wrong for wanting answers. But you deserve those answers from someone who knows your family and not from a program that will guess the answer.
Alabama families deserve real doctors, real access, and real investment in the future of our communities.
AI may be fast. But it isn’t a physician, and it won’t build the healthier Alabama we owe our children.
Dr. Tonya Bradley is a Family Medicine Physician who practices in Auburn and is a member of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama.
