What does healthcare look like when you add AI? That’s not just a question for the future. The tech is already showing up in the real world.
In Philadelphia, where healthcare is a major driver of the local economy, AI adoption is moving quickly. More than 80% of family medicine doctors at Temple Health and more than 70% of all doctors at Penn Medicine are using generative AI tools, according to reporting from WHYY. Jefferson Health has estimated the technology can save each doctor an hour a day.
Jefferson Health has estimated AI can save each doctor an hour a day.
There are also lots of big things ahead. CHOP’s new building will integrate tech into every patient room, for example. And have you heard about digital twins?
This reporting is part of my partnership with Technical.ly through the 2026 Philadelphia Media Founders Exchange News Creators Network, supported by the Lenfest Institute. I’m working alongside creator Chelsea Cox, and our shared project examines how AI is reshaping work, governance and daily life in Philadelphia as we prepare to celebrate the US Semiquincentennial.
It’s called “Now + Next: Philadelphia’s next 250 years in the age of AI.”
AI in healthcare is doing two things at once
When people picture AI in medicine, they often jump straight to diagnoses and miracle cures. That’s not wrong — AI is playing a growing role in diagnostics — but some of the most immediate impact is happening in the background, where Technical.ly has reported it can reduce repetitive work and administrative burden while keeping humans in the loop.
In the Philadelphia region, one of the most visible examples is “ambient listening” during appointments, according to WHYY. The tool listens, takes notes and summarizes key points after each visit, with the idea that it frees doctors to focus on the conversation instead of typing.
At the same time, AI isn’t only about notes. In Pennsylvania, clinicians are also using AI to aid clinical decision-making — like CT scan analysis for lung cancer screening, per WHYY — while emphasizing that these systems are meant to supplement, not replace, medical judgment.
And as the tools spread, lawmakers are looking at guardrails for how AI should (and shouldn’t) be used in this critical field.
Philly’s hospital future is being built in plain sight
Philadelphia health systems are also investing in the kind of infrastructure that will pull more advanced tech right into the mix.
A $125 million gift from Aileen and Brian Roberts (aka the CEO of Comcast) and their family is helping fund Roberts Children’s Health at CHOP, expected to launch in 2028. CHOP describes it as a redesigned flagship hospital experience centered on more integrated technologies, individualized amenities for families and “bench-to-bedside” care. The project includes a new inpatient tower of more than 1 million square feet, rising more than 20 stories.
That’s the near-future version of “AI in healthcare”: not just software, but the systems, buildings and workflows that decide who benefits.
Now let me let my imagination wander.
One of the wilder ideas on the horizon is the digital twin for healthcare: a virtual version of you that stays connected to real-world data, so clinicians could simulate risks and test approaches before a treatment ever touches your body. In the research, the concept is generally framed as a data-linked virtual representation of a real system (a patient, an organ, a process) that can be used to model and predict outcomes.
If that sounds like science fiction, it’s also where the stakes get even higher. Because the biggest question isn’t whether we can build the future. It’s who gets access — and who gets left behind.
That’s the lens I’m bringing to this “Now + Next” work with Technical.ly. AI in healthcare can absolutely mean faster workflows and more time with patients. It can also mean deeper inequities if the benefits aren’t designed, tested and distributed with everyone in mind.Don’t miss our next edition!
Follow along here and on Instagram at @techlifesteph, @techincal_ly and @chelsea.r.cox.
