There is no escaping technology but we have to practice prudent use of AI and social media.The rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and social media is transforming the face of modern medicine, including how doctors communicate, record consultations, educate patients and build professional reputations. At the recent panel session Scroll, Post, Heal: Smart Social-Media Strategies and AI in Modern ENT, speakers debated the opportunities and threats presented by these fast-evolving technologies.
The session featured Dr Tengku Ezulia Tengku Nun Ahmad, Raja Eileen Soraya, and Professor Dr Rohit Singh, and was chaired by Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh. The discussions ranged from AI-assisted clinical documentation and medicolegal accountability to cybersecurity, online professionalism, and the growing influence of social media on patient behaviour and trust.
AI: The rise of SKYNET or humanity’s greatest gift?
The session started with Kuljit Singh emphasising that AI should be viewed as a clinical tool, not a substitute for doctors. He showed how AI-assisted transcription systems can generate consultation notes, insurance forms, referral letters and International Classification of Diseases (ICD) coding automatically in real time during patient encounters.
According to Kuljit, AI has relieved a lot of the administrative burden from his practice and given him more time to see patients. But he stressed the doctor is still in control. While AI-generated notes can be highly accurate in transcription, clinicians still need to review, edit and approve all information before it is entered into official records.
Rohit then gave a short overview of the development of AI, from the basic AI systems to machine learning, neural networks, deep learning and generative AI. Rohit pointed out that while there is a lot of talk about AI in healthcare, currently ENT is less than 1 percent of all AI-related medical activity in the world. Among more than 1,400 US FDA-approved AI medical products, only two are currently ENT-related.
Nevertheless, Rohit highlighted several emerging applications within ENT, including AI-assisted otoscopy, endoscopy interpretation, vocal cord analysis, screening tools, prognostic modelling, and decision-support systems. He described how clinical images generated by ENT clinicians are increasingly being used to train machine-learning models capable of recognising pathology patterns. One example was otoscopic image datasets used to train AI systems to differentiate normal findings from conditions such as otomycosis. Rohit explained that large volumes of validated clinical data remain essential to improve diagnostic reliability.
However, the panel also cautioned against overreliance on AI. Rohit said that AI models sometimes provided a reasonable final diagnosis, but often failed at differential diagnostic reasoning, raising concerns about unsupervised clinical deployment. The discussion then turned to whether AI could ultimately replace doctors. Citing comments by public figures such as Elon Musk and Bill Gates about AI-driven disruption of professional education, the panel unanimously agreed that AI cannot replace clinical judgement, experience and human interaction.
Tengku Ezulia said that many clinical decisions still require years of practical experience and contextual judgement that AI systems cannot currently replicate. She pointed to examples of chronic ear disease management when treatment options are often based on subtle clinical interpretation rather than just protocol-driven responses. Raja Eileen also said that AI is a challenge that professionals must learn to adapt to, not resist. She said that medical schools and training institutions should formally teach doctors how to use AI responsibly and effectively. The medicolegal implications of AI use was another big focus. She noted AI-generated materials could potentially be admissible in court if relied on by expert witnesses. However, she said admissibility does not automatically mean credibility or legal protection.
The panel also discussed cybersecurity concerns and data protection risks associated with digital health systems. Raja Eileen noted that healthcare facilities are still often targets of cyberattacks because of the massive amounts of sensitive patient data stored within their systems. She felt cybersecurity should not be seen as just an information technology (IT) issue, but an institutional responsibility that involves appropriate safeguards, policies and accountability frameworks.
Doctors in the age of social media: tread carefully, but steadfastly
The second half of the session was dedicated to social media and its growing impact on clinical practice. Tengku Ezulia encouraged doctors to create a professional online presence, explaining that many patients now search online for symptoms and clinicians before attending consultations. She said online reputation is increasingly a consideration for patients along with hospital accessibility and insurance coverage. In her own practice, she estimated that 40 to 50 percent of patients come from social media platforms.
As well as practice visibility, Tengku Ezulia said doctors also have an obligation to counter misinformation online. She cited examples of misleading public beliefs surrounding intubation and other medical interventions that gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to her, educational content on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook may potentially reach more individuals in a single post than can be seen in clinic consultations over several weeks.
The panel also touched on how to maintain professionalism online. Tengku Ezulia advised doctors to be authentic, consistent and educational with their content while steering clear of direct online diagnosis or treatment recommendations. Patients often send in pictures and seek personal medical advice on direct messages, she noted. However, both Tengku Ezulia and Raja Eileen strongly discouraged giving definitive diagnosis or management decisions on social media platforms. Raja Eileen warned that screenshots of online interactions may crop up later during medicolegal disputes or disciplinary proceedings. Instead, doctors should provide only general guidance and encourage formal clinic visits as much as possible.
The panel also addressed online harassment, fake endorsements, and unauthorised use of doctors’ images on social media advertisements. Tengku Ezulia shared how her image was used without her consent to promote products online. Raja Eileen told doctors to report such content to platform providers immediately and to keep a record of their efforts to dissociate themselves from misleading advertisements or endorsements. At the end of the session, the panel reiterated that AI and social media are now firmly embedded in modern healthcare. While these technologies offer significant opportunities to improve efficiency, education, communication and patient engagement, clinicians need to continue to exercise professional judgement, ethical awareness and personal accountability when incorporating them into practice.