The augmentation myth: AI, economics, and workforce substitution in radiology
European Radiology, 2026
In this opinion article, Cuocolo and Huisman challenge the widely accepted idea that AI in radiology will mainly serve as a tool to “augment” radiologists. While this narrative is often reassuring, the authors argue that it may underestimate the economic forces shaping AI adoption in healthcare.
They suggest that, for AI systems to deliver real value at scale, they may increasingly be used to substitute specific human tasks, particularly repetitive, routine, or high-volume activities. This does not necessarily mean replacing radiologists entirely, but rather changing the way radiology work is organised.
The article encourages a more realistic discussion about the future role of radiologists. As AI becomes more integrated into clinical workflows, radiologists may focus more on supervision, complex diagnostic decisions, communication, quality assurance, and governance, while selected tasks become increasingly automated.
Overall, the authors highlight that AI should not only be understood as a clinical innovation, but also as a technology with important economic, organisational, and workforce implications for the future of radiology.