The Human Touch: AI as Enabler of Human Connection in Medical and Graduate Education

This article, authored by Chris Hugill, Sunit Jariwala, and David Shechter, argues that AI tools in medical education — like virtual reality and tutoring bots — will actually make human connection more important, not less. The authors contend that by handling routine teaching tasks, AI frees up faculty to focus on the things only humans can teach: empathy, judgment, mentorship, and how to navigate the emotional and ethical complexities of medicine.