AI enters the family doctor's office: Chile debates how to adopt it without losing the human bond in primary care

By Radio Festival · October 21, 2026.

The Chilean Society of Family Medicine (SOCHIMEF) is holding its 27th Congress at the Universidad de Concepción from October 22 to 24. Its theme is "Leading the primary care strategy in challenging times." One of the program's main tracks covers the use of artificial intelligence and digital tools by Primary Health Care (PHC) teams. Primary care is the first level of care and the one closest to the patient.

According to the published information, WAYNAKAY, the movement of Family Medicine residents, is leading that track (the name means "youth" in Quechua). The discussion will cover the benefits of these tools and the challenges of adopting them. The text does not say which specific tools will be presented, and it gives no data on clinical outcomes.

The program includes plenary lectures, round tables, workshops and scientific papers. Topics include chronic pain, healthy aging, dementia and neurodivergence in adults. The Comprehensive People-Centered Care Strategy (ECICEP), designed to follow up people living with chronic conditions, will also be discussed. The presidents of the family medicine societies of Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina and Chile will take part. Ana María Arriagada, president of the Chilean Medical Association (Colegio Médico de Chile), will close the event with a talk on euthanasia and consent.

SOCHIMEF president Andrea Didier Castillo summed up the meeting's stance. She named the rise in chronic non-communicable diseases, mental health problems and the arrival of AI as challenges for primary care. She added that the new tools bring opportunities, but that adopting them must always go hand in hand with a people-centered approach.

Our take: this is a congress announcement, not a result, and it is best not to read more into it than it says. Still, it is an interesting signal. When a primary care medical society puts AI on the agenda next to aging and mental health, the question is no longer whether AI will enter the consulting room, but on what terms.

Primary care is generally where AI can add the most value in the short term. It is the level with the heaviest patient load and the most paperwork. There, technology can free up time for what no machine can replace: listening, supporting patients and understanding their family context. That is the core of Didier Castillo's argument, and we agree with it. AI should be judged by how much human time it gives back to clinicians, not by how much it takes away.

There is a warning for the transition. If AI is brought in only to see more patients in less time, closeness with patients will erode, however good the intentions. It is good news that residents, the generation that will work alongside these tools, are leading the debate. What is missing, and what we hope the congress addresses, is evaluation criteria: which tools, backed by what evidence, and with what safeguards for patient data.

In the long run, family medicine augmented by AI could follow every chronic patient and catch decline early, a step toward the healthier society we argue for. Getting there will depend on design and governance decisions made in forums like this one.