Autonomous AI agents could strip the soul from medicine

<p>Internal medicine and functional medicine physician Shiv K. Goel discusses his article "<a href= "https://kevinmd.com/2026/01/agentic-ai-in-medicine-the-danger-of-automating-the-doctor.html">Agentic AI in medicine: the danger of automating the doctor</a>." Shiv analyzes the new ARPA-H "ADVOCATE" program which aims to deploy autonomous AI agents for heart disease care within three years. The conversation highlights the critical difference between processing data and understanding a patient, noting that AI cannot read the fear in a voice or the silence between words. Shiv warns of the "liability black hole" …