As AI reshapes health care, human skills are more important than ever

While the potential of AI is being recognised across health care, the CEO of a leadership and business development program provider advocates for uniquely human ‘soft skills’ that, the author believes, AI will never be able to replace.

AI is transforming Australian health care. From diagnostic support to process automation, it is reducing paperwork, streamlining workflows and freeing clinicians to spend more time where it matters most: with patients.

While we are already seeing how AI is being used in remote patient tracking, X-ray analysis and risk prediction, the Productivity Commission estimates that up to 30% of current healthcare workforce tasks could be further automated with digital technology and AI.¹ Most people who choose caring professions don’t like the administrative side of their jobs, so the idea of AI taking some of that work off their plates sounds like a dream come true.

But efficiency isn’t the only benefit. The Productivity Commission also found that better integrating digital technology into health care could save more than $5 billion a year. Meanwhile, the CSIRO describes the current AI boom as an “extraordinary epoch” for health care.²

The benefits are undeniable, but as the sector rapidly implements this technology, we cannot forget the importance of uniquely human skills that AI will never be able to replace: those which are often called ‘soft’ skills.

When patients are in a clinic or hospital, which doctor are they more likely to trust? The one who is warm, caring and makes them feel understood, or the one who is efficient and quick, but distant? Health care is not simply a matter of moving information from one system to another. It’s about face-to-face interaction and trust, often in situations where patients are feeling the depth of human experience in full force.

That is where ‘soft skills’ are invaluable. But no algorithm has mastered them yet.

What AI can’t do

In health care, AI can flag abnormal results, identify patterns in large datasets and support clinicians with information that might otherwise be difficult to see.

But it cannot sit with a patient whose cancer has returned and decide how to speak, how to pause, how to read the room or how to hold silence long enough for the patient to respond. It cannot provide reassurance to a worried family that a medical team is doing everything it can to help their loved one pull through. And it cannot form a human connection with someone who is looking to feel understood and at ease when at their most vulnerable.

These are not incidental moments of care; they are the moments patients remember.

The language of ‘soft skills’ can be misleading. It suggests these capabilities are secondary, or somehow less serious than clinical expertise. In reality, they are essential, high-stakes professional competencies. And in an increasingly automated environment, they are now becoming more important, not less.

The evidence on value

A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis found that emotional intelligence training among healthcare workers was associated with improvements in communication, problem-solving, quality of care and transformational leadership, although the authors noted that methodological limitations meant the effects should be interpreted cautiously.³

This finding suggests that the capabilities many people still describe as ‘soft’ have measurable effects on how care is delivered and experienced. It also suggests they can be strengthened, which has direct implications for workforce development.

The role of great communication is equally important. A review in BMC Primary Care found that contributors to a trusting patient–physician relationship include open communication, genuine interest in the patient, caring, shared decision-making and clinical competence.⁴

In general practice, Australian research has shown that the doctor–patient relationship is foundational to whole-person care, because it supports trust, disclosure and shared decision-making.

Patients who trust their clinicians are more likely to disclose symptoms honestly, follow treatment advice and return when they need help again. If trust is weakened, care becomes harder, riskier and less effective. AI can’t build that trust alone.

What Australians think

Public attitudes point in the same direction. A 2024 citizens’ jury study published in the Medical Journal of Australia found that Australians were open to AI in health care, but wanted strong governance, fairness, patient rights, clinical training and evaluation.⁵ The same study made clear that public support is not unconditional: Australians want AI to be used in ways that preserve the human elements of care.

That is an important signal for healthcare leaders. The public is not asking for a future where systems replace clinicians, but for one where technology supports clinicians without damaging the trust between clinician and patient.

These skills can be taught

We often assume communication, empathy and judgement will emerge naturally through experience. Sometimes they do, but too often they do not. The good news is that soft skills can be developed through structured feedback, training and practical leadership development.

A 2023 study shows that investing in soft skills training can provide a 256% ROI for organisations, boosting productivity and retention.⁶ Findings like these should shift how healthcare systems think about workforce investment. It is not enough to train clinicians in the technical use of AI and assume the rest will look after itself.

If the profession is moving into a more automated environment, then the human side of the job has to be trained equally. That means communication, ethical reasoning, conflict navigation, empathy and relationship-building should be built into formal development pathways, not left to chance.

It also means rethinking what good leadership looks like in health care. Leaders should be asking whether their organisations are developing clinicians who can use AI-enabled time well. If automation frees up capacity, that time should be used for better conversations, stronger relationships, tailored clinician–patient experiences and more thoughtful care.

A leadership choice

A better system is created when the time saved is redirected towards the things patients value most: clarity, trust, judgement, empathy and continuity. That is where human-centred capability becomes a performance issue, not a decorative one.

Healthcare leaders need to treat these skills as essential professional competencies. That can mean embedding them in training, supervision, workforce planning and leadership development. It also means rejecting the idea that ‘soft skills’ are somehow secondary to the ‘real work’ when, the truth is, they are the real work.

We are witnessing firsthand how AI is shaping health care, but it is far from replacing the human qualities that make care trusted, effective and humane. If anything, it is making those qualities easier to see and harder to ignore.

As automation expands, the clinicians who will stand out are not just those who can use the tools well. They are those who can do what the tools cannot: listen, interpret, reassure, judge and lead in moments that matter. That is the true value of human care, even in a rapidly changing world. And it is something that AI cannot replicate.

^{1. Productivity Commission. Leveraging digital technology in healthcare. Canberra: Australian Government Productivity Commission; 2024. Accessed 8 May, 2026. https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries-and-research/digital-healthcare}

^{2. Hansen D, Bauer D, Grimes J, et al. AI trends for healthcare. Herston: CSIRO Australian e-Health Research Centre; 2024. Accessed 8 May, 2026. https://aehrc.csiro.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/AI-Trends-for-Healthcare.pdf}

^{3. Powell C, Brown T, Yap Y, et al. Emotional intelligence training among the healthcare workforce: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Psychol. 2024;15:1437035. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1437035}

^{4. Karimi L, Leggat SG, Bartram T, et al. Emotional intelligence: predictor of employees' wellbeing, quality of patient care, and psychological empowerment in a Victorian aged care organisation. BMC Psychol. 2021;9(1):93. doi: 10.1186/s40359-021-00593-8}

^{5. Carter SM, Carolan L, Saint James Aquino Y, et al. How should artificial intelligence be used in Australian health care? Recommendations from a citizens’ jury. Med J Aust. 2024;220(8):409–416. doi: 10.5694/mja2.52283}

^{6. Adhvaryu A, Kala N, Nyshadham A. Returns to on-the-job soft skills training. J Polit Econ. 2023;131(8):2165–2208. doi: 10.1086/724320}

*Karlie Cremin is CEO of Dynamic Leadership Programs Australia (DLPA) and Crestcom ANZ.

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