05/27/2026    Dieter Fellner, DPM

When Will AI Replace Podiatrists?

Out of curiosity (and perhaps mild professional
self-preservation), I recently asked ChatGPT how
long it thought it would be before AI and robotics
replace podiatrists and surgeons. The response was
interesting. AI will likely become extraordinarily
powerful in diagnostics, pattern recognition,
documentation, workflow optimization, and decision
support over the next 10–20 years. No great
surprise there.

But when it comes to hands-on procedural medicine?
The estimate became much longer. he AI pointed out
something that is often overlooked by Silicon
Valley enthusiasts: medicine is not merely
information processing. Even the mundane task of
trimming toenails is, in reality, an
extraordinarily complex physical interaction. What
appears to the casual observer as: “clip nail”
actually involves continuous subconscious
processing of: circulation, neuropathy, nail
curvature, fungal changes, tissue fragility,
patient movement, pain anticipation, instrument
angle, rotational force, shear stress, body
positioning, bleeding risk, infection risk,
patient anxiety and tactile feedback — all while
physically interacting with a living human being
in real time. And this is before we even discuss
surgery.

The conclusion was amusingly grounded: AI may
eventually assist or augment procedural medicine
significantly, but fully replacing skilled
clinicians performing nuanced physical work in
messy real-world environments remains a very
different challenge. The AI also made another
observation I found surprisingly insightful:
many technology developers confuse “information
processing” with “embodied intelligence.” Those
are not the same thing. A surgical robot
performing highly constrained tasks in a
controlled operating room is one thing. An
autonomous podiatry robot managing an elderly
diabetic patient in a cramped clinic room with
dystrophic nails, fragile skin, neuropathy,
anxiety and limited mobility is another matter
entirely.

As for the final estimate? The AI suggested: 10–20
years for major disruption in cognitive medicine.
Possibly 30–50+ years before robotics and AI
reliably replace large amounts of hands-on
procedural medicine in uncontrolled real-world
settings. In the meantime, perhaps there is still
hope for experienced clinicians, skilled
mechanics… and anyone who understands carburetor

Dieter Fellner, DPM, NY, NY

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