Clinical Psychology in AI-Assisted Patient Communication and Triage Evaluation

AI systems now mediate patient-provider communication and inform triage decisions. This note examines the psychological mechanisms at stake: how patients perceive and respond to algorithmic guidance, how the human cognitive shortcuts we rely on (heuristics, trust in authority) interact with algorithmic recommendations, and how the apparent neutrality of AI can mask value judgments embedded in training data and design. We argue that integrating AI into patient communication requires clinicians to understand both the capabilities and the psychological failure modes of these systems, and to maintain explicit human oversight of decisions that affect patient welfare.