As we have all seen over the past two years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming a word we hear in the workplace. We have seen its growing involvement in many aspects of our lives, from working quietly in the background in our phones and home devices, to being utilised in the form of chatbots for customer service purposes, and even now within healthcare.
There are, of course, controversies surrounding the employment of AI within clinical practices, and discussions about the ethical implications of technology being so heavily involved in a very human field of work, where empathy and compassion are at the forefront of a clinician’s day-to-day role.
It has no doubt raised the questions of how exactly AI is affecting healthcare, whether we are seeing a positive or negative impact on its increased usage, and what clinicians have to say about its influence on their work life.
It is inevitable that this adaptive and transformative technology would be utilised within the clinical world; in this post, you will find statements directly from a seasoned expert witness, detailing real-life scenarios where AI and advancing technology have affected them, offering insight into whether AI and healthcare are truly compatible.
AI in Physiotherapy: Trusting AI with Mr Andy MacKellar, Physiotherapist
To have a better understanding of how AI is playing a role in an established Physiotherapist’s day-to-day role, I spoke with Mr Andy MacKellar, who has been an HCPC-accredited Physiotherapist since 1983 and an expert witness of over 6 years, specialising in strokes and neurological disorders. He reported that Artificial Intelligence is mainly involved in the administration side of his practice, explaining ‘’I use AI to assist searches for articles and references, as well as to generate graphics and images for advertising purposes’’.
This does raise the question of whether reviewing AI findings increases the workload of healthcare professionals. Mr MacKellar reports that as a Physiotherapist, there is not a significant increase in his workload from reviewing AI findings, explaining that ’’AI affects my work in small amounts, searches can show up additional material which I then cross-check with more traditional search methods to ensure accuracy’’. It becomes evident that although AI is a helpful tool for obtaining information, users still have to revert to using traditional methods of search, as there is not yet a fully fledged trusting relationship with AI.
When looking at the benefits, AI is deemed as an ‘’overall time saver, and certainly a cost saver’’ as stated by Mr MacKellar. In fact, according to LSE news, employees are saving an average of 7.5 hours a week from using AI tools, which is equivalent to one working day!
AI and medico-legal reports
Expert Witnesses will be taking the usage of AI in reports very seriously in light of the recent judgment, which states that AI tools must not replace professional opinion, and that it is solely the expert who is responsible for their report. If you want to read more about responsibility and the legal implications of using AI, please read our post Navigating the medico-legal landscape of AI in UK Radiology, written by an experienced Radiologist and expert witness, Dr Shouvik Saha.
Expert Witnesses are being driven to declare within their reports that they have not used any Artificial Intelligence tools to aid their writing. Mr MacKellar, for instance, inserts the following declaration:
‘’I have used artificial intelligence only to enhance the search for relevant articles. In my research, I have used the tools advocated by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, specifically Consensus, Elicit and Open Evidence.
I have concurrently manually searched traditional databases of peer-reviewed articles, such as PubMed and CINAHL, by way of comparison.
I have not used Large Language Model tools or other forms of Artificial Intelligence to generate text or opinion. ‘’
As we move into 2026, it will be interesting to see how AI shapes itself around the medicolegal field, and whether we will see new judgments come to fruition as AI tools advance.
If you would like to instruct Mr Andrew MacKellar, visit our website, or get in touch with our dedicated enquiries team at enquiries@mlas.co.uk