The advance of artificial intelligence in outpatient urology: current applications and future directions

Prudent integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into outpatient urology has already begun to revolutionize clinical workflows, improve administrative efficiency, and automate mundane and laborious tasks in the clinic setting. This narrative review explores the current applications of AI in outpatient settings, focusing on previsit, during-visit, and postvisit processes that may improve the experiences of clinicians and patients. We discuss the use of AI in administrative tasks, clinical decision support, documentation, and patient communication. Additionally, we highlight future directions for AI in urology, including integrated solutions that span prediagnosis to posttreatment and disease surveillance. While AI shows promise in reducing physician burden and increasing efficiency, challenges remain. Taking lessons from the introduction of the electronic health record (EHR), end-to-end AI integration will require rigorous validation, workflow adaptation, and iterant tailoring to meet the demands of the clinic setting before widespread adoption can occur.