The Future of Care: The Central Role of Human Responsibility in Roberto Morandi’s Vision
As part of the The Future of Care project, the presentation by Roberto Morandi, head of the soft skills laboratory at the Higher School of Economics and Management of Healthcare Systems (Altems), addresses a crucial question: what happens to human expertise when diagnostics and decision-making are supported by algorithms and artificial intelligence? According to Morandi, technology’s promise of speed and efficiency brings with it a paradox: ‘Technology advances, but human responsibility increases as a result.’
The paradox of skills: why AI demands more
Morandi refutes the false belief that automation reduces the need for human skills. On the contrary, precisely because artificial intelligence lacks autonomous decision-making capacity, the professional workload increases. "Artificial intelligence does not decide. Artificial intelligence proposes, and the professional must interpret, contextualise and decide; therefore, responsibility always remains human‘.
The challenge of “translation”: from data to meaning
A real risk of digitalisation is the production of information that is technically flawless but humanly incomprehensible. For Morandi, communication is not an afterthought, but is ’equivalent to clinical responsibility". The key competence in this area is the ability to translate: “to translate complexity into clarity, to translate data into meaning, and to move from a form of information to a form of understanding”.
Staying present: avoiding ‘taking refuge in the tool’
The introduction of technology into a healthcare pathway inevitably alters the relationship with the patient. The greatest danger is that the professional uses the tool as a shield (the so-called “the system says so”), creating distance and a loss of trust. “Technology is not a support; it does not replace human presence because the patient perceives presence or absence and perceives them immediately.” For this reason, one of the distinctive skills of the future is the ability to remain present in the relationship, despite technological mediation.
The critical alliance and the governance of technology
Morandi urges us to avoid two extremes: total delegation to the machine or the prejudicial rejection of the tool. The correct position is that of a ‘critical alliance’. Since the algorithm is based on past data whilst clinical practice is always a unique and present reality, the professional must retain their judgement. ‘The professional role involves not merely executing, but governing.’ This means evaluating the output of AI, recognising its limitations and potential biases, and avoiding ‘mechanical, automatic or unconscious use that becomes dangerous’.
In summary, for Roberto Morandi, soft skills are the factor that allows the professional, and not technology, to remain the defining element of the system. The fundamental question does not concern the intelligence of machines, but ‘how aware we are when we use them’.
