The Human Behind the Machine: Why Healthcare Must Resist the Rush To Automate

June 17, 2026

In a new byline for MedCity News, Pleio CEO Michael Oleksiw argues that healthcare’s rush to automate patient engagement is outpacing the trust patients actually have in AI-led care. Drawing a parallel to Waymo’s Senate testimony on remote human operators, Oleksiw makes the case that fear, isolation, and eroded trust — not logistics — are the real drivers of medication nonadherence, and that no amount of automation can substitute for sustained human connection. The piece outlines what healthcare leaders should demand from AI vendors before they automate away the touchpoints that actually keep patients engaged.