"We are all responsible": AI in Healthcare Roundtable

Few industries will be as profoundly disrupted by AI as healthcare. To examine what that disruption means for communicators and public affairs leaders across the region, We.Communications and Earned First convened a roundtable of senior practitioners in Singapore last week — drawing on findings from We's Future of Communications 2026 APAC Report. The backdrop makes the stakes clear: a projected global shortfall of 11m health workers by 2030; more than a quarter of APAC patients hospitalised due to delays in reaching a doctor; average specialist wait times of forty-seven days; and McKinsey's estimate of $60–110 billion in annual economic value from AI in the sector.

Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific clinicians are the most optimistic about AI of any region globally, with daily clinical adoption doubling over the past year — raising significant questions about whether regulation, training and institutional culture can keep pace with the technology. The group around the table voiced similar concerns in practice: roughly half had audited what AI overviews say about their own companies and therapies, and most found inaccuracies, with no clear mechanism to correct them.

The discussion that followed was candid and wide-ranging, covering regulatory fragmentation, the AI information environment, accountability, and the organisational cultures that will ultimately determine whether the region's optimism is warranted. The consensus that emerged was that the industry cannot wait for regulation to catch up. What follows is that conversation, edited for length and clarity.