By Dr. Sanchari Sinha Dutta, Ph.D. Reviewed by Lauren Hardaker May 1 2026 AI scribes promise to ease documentation burden, but new real-world data reveal a more complex reality: modest efficiency gains, unchanged after-hours work, and important questions about how clinicians actually use the time they save. Study: Changes in Clinician Time Expenditure and Visit Quantity With Adoption of Artificial Intelligence–Powered Scribes . Image credit: Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock.com Artificial intelligence