Why Should I Pay for PT When AI Can Give Me a Treatment Plan Instead?
I know the title may seem a little cheeky — and it is — but this is a real question I’ve been asked as a physical therapist. In fact, it’s one I’ve asked myself when trying to decide if I want to pay for formal physical therapy services, especially since my husband is a PT, himself.
Here’s the thing: despite how you feel about AI, it’s very much here and likely to stay. AI is used for everything from making memes to making life’s most important decisions.
So, why not use AI (or a search engine) for a treatment plan for your pain?
Because it’ll never be enough.
It’s the same reason you can’t just Google “exercises for knee pain,” and find exactly what you need for long-term relief. Every person is different; five people with the exact same location of pain can have five completely different reasons for that pain, and thus five very different treatment plans to address that pain.
This is also why I don’t like those Instagram posts that boast, “How to bulletproof your shoulders” or “3 Exercises for your plantar fasciitis.” Those people haven’t assessed my shoulders, or my plantar fasciitis. How do they know what exercises work for me, not to mention the dosing, intensity, frequency…like I said, it’ll never be enough.
In fact, these general posts can cause more harm.
AI is also extremely imperfect in its basic knowledge base. Sure, ChatGPT will make you a treatment plan if you ask it to, but I would bet my life savings that there is no chance it gives you a plan that is truly customized to you and your needs.
AI also cannot provide you with manual therapy, dry needling, and it cannot yet assess your movements from various angles, making micro-adjustments and cuing for better movement mechanics. For this, you need a human being, preferably a specialist in orthopedics.
If you’re looking for an orthopedic specialist, book your free discovery call below to see if we’d be a good fit to work together. Do yourself a favor and get yourself a physical therapist - we have doctorate degrees, are movement experts, and are trained in seeing and addressing everything that AI cannot.
