By: Amisha Singh, DDS, EdD
MDDS Co-Editor

Three years ago, I had just finished teaching a course on business plans at the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine. After the lecture, a group of bright, ambitious students approached me. They were high-performing, curious, and intelligent, and we often met after class and discussed topics such as public health, access to care and the ethical responsibility of a doctor. This time, they approached me with an open laptop and asked, “Dr. Singh, have you heard of ChatGPT?” I hadn’t. With a smile, they typed in: write a business plan for my dental practice. Within about three seconds, a comprehensive, well-structured business plan appeared on the screen. I remember thinking, the world has changed. At the time, I didn’t fully grasp how much. My initial reaction was excitement. I imagined the possibilities…how could we incorporate this technology into teaching, practice and daily life. Later that day, I went to my office, signed up for an account, and had ChatGPT build me a workout and nutrition plan. It delivered and I was impressed.

Since that day in 2022, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as one of the most transformative forces in modern healthcare and in modern human life. From predictive analytics to robotic-assisted surgeries, AI is charting a new era in healthcare, reshaping clinical workflows, diagnostic accuracy and patient engagement. Dentistry is experiencing a similar disruption. Academic medicine, responsible for training future clinicians and advancing research, is embracing AI as a cornerstone of innovation while still grappling with the impact it has on traditional teaching and evaluation methods. Healthcare systems worldwide are leveraging AI to address persistent challenges such as clinician burnout, diagnostic errors and rising costs.¹

In dental medicine, AI is revolutionizing care delivery and productivity. Today, AI can annotate radiographs to support patient education and diagnostic accuracy, transcribe conversations with patients in real time, draft chart notes, and use predictive analytics to anticipate disease progression and treatment outcomes. AI-powered tools have shown to be over 90% accurate when detecting caries and periodontal disease with radiographs and approximately 73% accurate when forecasting treatment outcomes for orthodontic cases.² AI is increasingly woven into everyday life and diverse professional settings beyond healthcare. Across sectors, AI’s role is shifting from a supportive tool to a strategic partner, redefining efficiency, personalization and innovation in human life and work. The world is changing before our very eyes.

Yet, with any transformative technology comes ethical responsibility. With the rapid evolution and integration of AI in our daily lives, ethical dilemmas such as data security and privacy, algorithmic bias and transparency, professional autonomy and equitable access must be considered. AI algorithms are built from the data they receive. If the data an AI model is given lacks diversity, the AI output has the potential to perpetuate health disparities. We must ask if the AI we are using has used sound decision-making processes to achieve the result it has shared. Is that reasoning process explainable, understandable and sound in ethical approach? These questions are not optional; they are essential to ensuring that AI serves humanity responsibly.

In one of my favorite quotes, Johann Hari warns: “Take care of the technologies you use, because your consciousness will, over time, come to be shaped like those technologies.” This is true for many modern technologies. Have you ever picked up your phone to check something only to find yourself in the middle of a mindless scroll on social media, minutes (or hours) later? When you search for a product on Amazon, how likely are you to purchase an item which is sponsored, favored by placement and suggestion to capture your eye? Has the use of GPS navigation technologies changed the spatial awareness of younger generations?

AI is no different, except that it is far more powerful and pervasive. It is shaping our consciousness every day. AI’s place in our world is helping advance mankind in numerous ways, but an excessive reliance on AI can lead to cognitive offloading, or “the process by which humans delegate cognitive tasks to external tools or systems.”³ While this can free up cognitive bandwidth, it also raises important questions about what skills and habits we risk losing in the process.

Cognitive offloading is not a new phenomenon and is not necessarily always bad. A 2011 study introduced the term “Google Effect,” which describes a phenomenon where people do not remember information well if they know it can be found online.⁴ With the emergence of calculators, humans have needed to rely less on mental math, and some would argue that is a good thing. When I was younger, I could navigate an encyclopedia expertly to research a school paper, but with the evolution of search engines and the Internet, I did not need to visit a single library or touch the Dewy Decimal system to write this Reflection.

The challenge arises when the skills or neural pathways that atrophy due to technology are essential to our sense of self or our ability to think critically. For example, when I built notecards to study for exams in dental school, the act of making them would help me retain the information. If I were to use AI to generate those notecards, it may or may not impact my mastery of the material. Perhaps I would be able to make the notecards more efficiently, and I could use the additional time to review, enhancing my depth of understanding. But consider reflection essays which are a critical academic tool to build professional identity. If the assignment was to write a reflection essay after a formative learning experience, such as treating a patient with special health care needs, research has shown that the act of writing that essay helps to define and stabilize growing professional identities, even impacting future career or practice modality choices.⁵ Therefore, if AI is used to write that essay, circumventing the critical thinking process, the use of AI will risk undermining that identity development.

Evidence supports this concern. A four-month study at MIT’s Media Lab studied 54 individuals who were asked to write essays with no assistance, using Internet research engines and ChatGPT. EEG monitoring revealed that while AI-aided writing was 60% faster, cognitive engagement dropped and brain connectivity decreased by half. 83% of participants couldn’t recall details of passages they had just written. Essays produced with ChatGPT were strikingly similar and lacked originality; one researcher called them “soulless.”⁶

Now, I want to be clear: Generative AI is an extraordinary tool, transforming productivity in healthcare and beyond. I am one of the approximately half of Americans who use generative AI several times a day.⁷ This Reflection is not meant to dissuade the reader from using AI, but it is meant to caution us as a community on how we are using AI. A Carnegie Mellon study found that 62% of participants engaged in less critical thinking when using AI. Yet, those with higher confidence in their expertise were 27% more likely to critically evaluate AI outputs rather than accept them blindly.⁸ We have learned that younger individuals, specifically those under the age of 25, are most susceptible to higher AI dependence and cognitive offloading that impacts critical thinking. Higher education, fortunately, also acts as a buffer to maladaptive cognitive atrophy.⁹

So, how can we use AI to fuel our work and our creativity, to amplify human potential, without it impacting the integrity of who we are? To guide myself as a frequent AI user, I’ve established three personal rules:

Be intentional about what tasks you allow AI to replace.
Every time you outsource a skill to AI, you risk weakening it. For example, I often use generative AI to spark ideas or outline points for a first draft of a paragraph when writing, but I never let it write entire drafts or handle final edits, grammar or punctuation. Why? Because writing and editing are core to my professional identity. I serve as an editorial director of multiple platforms. If I relinquish that, I will erode a skill I consider sacred. The same principle applies in clinical settings. If I rely on AI-marked radiographs without maintaining my ability to interpret them independently, what happens when the algorithm errs? Will I catch it? Will I trust my judgment over the machine? Protect the skills that define your expertise. Use AI as a supplement, not a crutch. And refine the art of responsible prompting to keep your workflow intentional.

Follow the 40-60 rule.
A tech leader and friend once told me: AI will get you 40–50% of the way there. I take that ratio seriously. When AI creates something for me, I assume it’s only 40% complete. The remaining 60%, the insight, expertise, nuance, and critical thinking, must come from me. That’s what makes the final product truly mine. This goes beyond adding polish; it’s about verifying accuracy, relevance and context. For example, if AI transcribes patient notes, as clinicians, we must review them thoroughly. It is our responsibility to ensure that they’re comprehensive and clinically sound. AI can accelerate our work, but it cannot replace our judgment.

Never use AI to replace your humanity.
It can be tempting to let generative AI craft a thank-you note or write a heartfelt greeting card message, but doing so risks stripping away the authenticity that makes human connection meaningful. Any personal message carries emotional weight because it reflects the unique voice, experiences, and intentions of the person writing it, qualities no algorithm can truly replicate. While AI can assist with structure or inspiration, the essence of empathy, vulnerability and sincerity must come from you. In moments that matter, I write the message without aid or assistance. Technology can amplify my humanity but not substitute for it.

Arthur C. Clarke once said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” When ChatGPT debuted in 2022, it felt like magic. But magic, if left unchecked, can become a crutch. AI is here to stay, and its potential to transform healthcare, dentistry and the way we live and work is undeniable. Yet, the responsibility lies with us to use it wisely. We must remain intentional, critical, and deeply human in our approach, preserving the skills, judgment, and empathy that define our profession and our identity. Technology should serve as an amplifier of our humanity, not a substitute for it. If we can strike that balance, AI will not diminish who we are; it will empower us to be even better versions of ourselves… for our practices, for our patients and for each other.

Click HERE for a full list of references.