Is AI going to take jobs from...doctors?

Biotech investor Robert Nelsen made a bold prediction at a live recording of STAT’s "Readout LOUD" podcast last month in San Francisco — that artificial intelligence will replace doctors. In fact, he thinks that AI is already better than “most of [his] doctors.” Nelsen’s comments were quite controversial on social media, but he stood by his forecast on X. So what tasks typically performed by doctors might be delegated to AI? A startup called Doctronic thinks AI is ready to renew prescriptions, for one. And Utah is allowing the company’s chatbot to do just that by waiving some of the state’s regulations on the practice of medicine. In this week’s STATus Report, host Alex Hogan chats with STAT health tech reporter Mario Aguilar about how this chatbot works, the controversial regulatory argument for why Doctronic’s “AI Doctor” is outside the Food and Drug Administration’s purview, why this is all alarming some medical experts, and more. Mario's story: https://www.statnews.com/2026/02/03/utah-doctronic-ai-doctor-prescription-renewal-fda-regulation/ 0:00 A prediction 1:13 AI is polarizing 2:46 How Doctronic's AI works 4:20 What's a "sandbox program" 6:40 Did Doctronic go to FDA? 8:11 Why experts are concerned 9:53 Trump's FDA and AI 11:01 Is AI replacing doctors a common prediction? 12:45 Nelsen's response on X 13:17 Outro More from STAT: Become a subscriber: https://www.statnews.com/stat-plus/ Watch Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@Statnews Newsletters: https://www.statnews.com/signup/ STAT events: https://www.statnews.com/stat-events/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/statnews Twitter: https://twitter.com/statnews Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/status_report_ig/ Flipboard: rb.gy/3xnsxr STAT Reports: https://rb.gy/rexfwj STAT eBooks: https://rb.gy/eme3h5 ABOUT STAT: Founded in 2015, STAT is a global digital media brand that focuses on delivering fast, deep, and tough-minded journalism about the life sciences industries to over six million monthly site visitors and an additional 20 million readers on the Apple News app. STAT takes you inside academic labs, biotech boardrooms, and political backrooms, casting a critical eye on scientific discoveries, scrutinizing corporate strategies, and chronicling the roiling battles for talent, money, and market share. With an award-winning newsroom, STAT provides indispensable insights and exclusive stories on the technologies, personalities, power brokers, and political forces driving massive changes in the life sciences industry — and a revolution in human health.