Human judgment must guide medical AI use

Wolters Kluwer and Philippine health care and education leaders have called for evidence, transparency and human oversight to remain central as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more widely used in medicine.

During a workshop in Manila, participants discussed how AI could support access to medical knowledge without replacing clinical judgment.

The discussion comes as the Philippine health system faces workforce shortages and unequal access to medical services.

The country has about four doctors for every 10,000 people, below the World Health Organization benchmark of 10, while only two of its 17 regions meet the recommended doctor-to-population ratio.

The 2026 Second Congressional Commission on Education report also estimated a nationwide shortage of about 290,000 health care professionals.

The gaps contribute to heavier workloads, longer waiting times and unequal access between urban centers and provincial communities.

Participants at the workshop examined the use of AI in medical education, clinical learning and health care delivery. They stressed that users must be able to identify the sources behind AI-generated information and determine whether it is current and supported by evidence.

During the event, Wolters Kluwer presented UpToDate Expert AI, a generative AI tool built on the medical content available through its UpToDate platform.

The system allows health care professionals to submit questions in natural language and review its responses alongside supporting medical content.

Wolters Kluwer said the tool was designed to support clinical learning and reasoning, not replace the decisions of medical professionals.

The Medical City, Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center and Makati Medical Center are among the Philippine institutions evaluating how evidence-based generative AI could improve access to medical information.

More than 45 hospitals, medical schools and government health institutions across the country use other Wolters Kluwer clinical solutions for medical education and evidence-based practice.

“Artificial intelligence has significant potential to support healthcare professionals, but its value ultimately depends on the quality and reliability of the information behind its responses. A key challenge with generative AI in healthcare is ensuring that clinicians can understand where information comes from, whether it reflects current evidence, and whether it can be independently evaluated,” said Hong Nguyen, Wolters Kluwer regional director for Asia-Pacific.