AI is Already in Your Doctor’s Office, Even if No One Said a Word

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is quietly becoming a fixture in the doctor’s office, though most older adults have no idea. A 2026 American Medical Association survey of physicians found that 81% are now using AI in their work, with the most common uses being summarizing medical research, writing discharge instructions, and documenting visit notes. Although these tasks happen largely out of the patient’s sight, new AARP findings show only 9% of adults age 50-plus say a provider has ever explained that AI is being used as part of their care.

In 2024, AARP found that only 8% of adults 50-plus believed their health care provider used AI, while 75% did not know. In 2026, two years later, awareness has barely moved: just 19% of older adults believe their health care providers use AI, and 6 in 10 still say they don’t know.

Among those who do think AI is used by their health care provider, the uses they most commonly imagine are listening to and summarizing what is said during an appointment, that is, an AI scribe (69%) writing the messages that arrive in their patient portal (55%) and creating discharge instructions or care plans after a visit (50%).

For most older adults, comfort with AI use by a health care provider varies widely by intent: Older adults are more accepting of AI handling administrative tasks like billing documentation (54% comfortable) or an AI scribe (53%) than decision-making tasks such as AI assisting with a diagnosis or treatment recommendation (38% comfortable) or deciding on prior authorization (30% comfortable).

Two in 3 (68%) older adults say they are very or somewhat concerned about what happens to their personal health information after it is processed by an AI tool their provider is using, and more than half (53%) said they would want to know if a message from their doctor’s office was written or assisted by AI.

Despite concerns about AI’s role in health care, trust in the provider largely holds: 37% say knowing AI may be involved in their care does not change their overall trust, though a similar number (32%) say it depends on how AI is being used. Slightly fewer (27%) say AI use decreases their trust, while 4% say it increases trust.

Regardless of trust, older adults expect transparency: 9 in 10 say patients should have the right to be informed when AI is used in their care.

Some older adults are also personally using AI to navigate their health journey. In the past 12 months, 1 in 4 (23%) used a generative AI tool in connection with their own health care. Among those who used AI to navigate their health care, the top uses were:

• Looking up information about a diagnosis or condition their provider mentioned (64%)
• Researching a medication that was mentioned or prescribed (62%)
• Understanding or interpreting what a provider told them during a visit (41%)
• Deciding whether a symptom was serious enough to contact their provider (45%).

Few used AI to prepare questions before an appointment (21%) or track or manage their treatment or medication (10%).

Older adults are open to AI in the doctor’s office, but their openness comes with conditions. To support responsible adoption, companies, health systems, policymakers, and the private sector should harness the benefits of AI while actively protecting against its harms. Older adults should have plain-language information about:

• What AI is being used for in their care, and who is accountable for the outcomes
• When AI is used to generate messages or communication sent to them
• What happens to their health information once it is processed by an AI tool in a clinical setting
• What rights patients have to ask questions, request disclosure, or opt out
• What safeguards exist to bring clinical AI tools in line with the privacy expectations people already have for health care

For more information, please contact Brittne Kakulla at bkakulla@aarp.org. For media inquiries, contact External Relations at media@aarp.org.