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Elsevier’s Clinician of the Future 2025 survey, drawing on responses from 2,206 clinicians across 109 countries, reports growing optimism about the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, tempered by concerns about trustworthiness, governance, access, and training.

Clinicians expect AI tools to become more prominent in the next two to three years, particularly in saving time, improving diagnostic speed and accuracy, and enhancing patient outcomes. Specifically, 70% anticipate time savings, 58% foresee faster diagnosis, 54% expect improved diagnostic accuracy, and 55% predict better patient outcomes.

However, current healthcare delivery challenges persist. Some 28% of respondents report insufficient time to provide quality care, with 69% seeing more patients now than two years ago. Nearly half (47%) acknowledge that fatigue has compromised their performance.

Usage of AI tools at work has nearly doubled since last year, rising from 26% to 48%. Adoption varies significantly by country, reaching 71% in China but remaining under 40% in the U.S. (36%) and U.K. (34%). Most users (97%) rely on generalist AI tools like ChatGPT, while only 76% have access to specialized clinical AI tools.

Despite widespread enthusiasm—95% of clinicians saw generative AI as beneficial last year—only 16% currently use AI to support clinical decision-making. However, an additional 48% express a desire to do so in future practice, and 41% expect that clinicians with AI tools will deliver higher-quality care within the next few years.

To build confidence in clinical AI tools, clinicians emphasize the need for automatic citation of sources (68%), training on high-quality peer-reviewed content (65%), and utilization of the latest resources (64%). Demand for factual accuracy is especially strong in the U.K. (81%) and U.S. (75%).

Significant barriers remain: only 32% of clinicians believe their institution provides adequate access to AI technologies, 30% feel they have received sufficient training, and just 29% indicate their organization offers sufficient AI governance.

Elsevier Health leadership framed this as a pivotal moment, with clinicians identifying AI’s potential to relieve resource constraints and improve patient care. The full fourth annual Clinician of the Future 2025 report is available online.