The trend: While AI adoption is climbing among physicians, a widening generation gap reveals that older doctors remain more hesitant to use the tech, according to Doximity’s January 2026 survey of 3,151 US physicians across 15 specialties.

Key stats: Nearly two-thirds (63%) of doctors are currently using AI in their clinical practice—up from 47% in last year’s survey. And once physicians adopt AI, it becomes a routine part of their workflow: 74% of physician AI users use the tech daily, and 98% at least once per week.

Doctors’ top use AI cases include:

• Looking up medical literature (35%)
• Voice-based documentation tools (e.g., ambient listening or AI scribes) (29%)
• Drafting patient support letters, such as for insurance approvals (26%)

However, the share of physicians who use AI at work declines with age.

• 61% of physicians 30 and under said they are currently using AI in their practice.
• That drops to 57% among doctors ages 30 to 50.
• Under half of doctors (46%) ages 60 to 69 use AI.
• 29% ages 70+ are AI users.

Why it matters: Since physicians skew older than the overall workforce, healthcare organizations can’t rely on younger doctors alone to drive AI adoption as they invest in and deploy these tools.

• The average US doctor was about 54 years old in 2025—significantly older than the typical worker, whose average age was 42, per Definitive Healthcare.
• And in some specialties like surgery and cardiology, the average doctor is around 60.

Recommendations for healthcare organizations to help older physicians become more comfortable with AI:

• Leverage power users to guide older doctors on AI. Physicians are more likely to trust other physicians than non-clinical staff. Set up mutual cadences where younger clinicians demonstrate how they use the technology and the benefits they’re seeing.
• Ease in AI-hesitant physicians with low-risk use cases. This could involve positioning AI as an advanced search tool, enabling doctors to access published clinical research—much like they already do—just through a different platform. It should be clearly communicated that AI is not used as a standalone diagnostic tool without human review anywhere in the organization.
• Establish regular, simple channels to hear and address older physicians’ concerns. Doctors of all ages said AI reliability and accuracy are by far their biggest concerns with the tech—something that’s likely even more prevalent among Gen X and boomer professionals. Run listening sessions where clinicians can share feedback on AI use and keep them informed on how tools are designed, deployed, monitored, and continuously refined to improve reliability.

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