How to Use Artificial Intelligence Tools in Dermatology, with David Cotter, MD, PhD

The expanding use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools for clinicians, and specifically dermatologists, has been increasingly discussed both in a positive and negative light.

At the Dermatology Education Foundation (DERM) 2025 NP/PA CME Conference in Las Vegas, session presenter David Cotter, MD, PhD, of Las Vegas Dermatology, spoke with HCPLive about a talk he gave on this subject. The talk was titled ‘Artificial Intelligence: The New Lifeguards in Derm’ and Cotter spoke on some of the biggest highlights.1

“A couple of key takeaways, particularly for artificial intelligence and dermatology, is that I could have given an hour-long talk on AI for essentially any disease state we have in term, but this year, I decided to take that approach to do a high-level potpourri,” Cotter explained. “Because it's more important to understand what's happening in AI from large trends that are affecting the entire house of medicine. What we're beginning to see is how AI can offload some of our administrative burden. That's probably the largest upside, not just for dermatology, but for all of medicine.”

Cotter highlighted several points about AI’s capability to alleviate administrative burdens through tools like AI scribes and prior authorizations. AI also poses risks with its utilization in medicine. Cotter pointed out that insurance companies could be implementing AI to deny claims.

“In fact, there are class action lawsuits that are going on right now that allege that certain companies like Cigna are turning down claims every 1.2 seconds and claiming that they are physician-adjudicated, which just can't be correct,” Cotter said. “So a lot is happening in the AI space right now.”

AI's role in the diagnosis of skin cancer was also highlighted by Cotter, with the discussion emphasizing its role as an aid rather than a standalone solution.

“Turns out that it’s not ready for prime time as a standalone technology, but we're not man versus machine,” Cotter said. “We're man-with-machine. When we utilize AI to augment our own skills that we've already owned after years of training, we can actually do better. We can increase our sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing lesions, either benign, indolent, fatal, or malignant skin cancers.”

Cotter further highlighted the need for clinicians to embrace AI to enhance diagnostic accuracy and patient care. He also noted the necessity for healthcare professionals to have a strong baseline knowledge to interact effectively with AI systems. This was demonstrated by the variability in responses from AI like ChatGPT regarding psoriasis treatments.

For any additional information on AI in dermatology, view Cotter’s full interview segment above. To find out more from DERM 2025, view the latest conference coverage.

The quotes contained in this interview were edited for clarity.

References

1. Cotter D. Artificial Intelligence: The New Lifeguards in Derm. Presented at DERM 2025 NP PA CME Conference; July 23-26, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada.