The Death of the Hands-On Healer? Dr. Ti Pence on AI, Chiropractic, and the Future of Healthcare

Imagine a world where doctors don’t touch patients anymore.

Where your back pain is diagnosed by an algorithm, your care plan is a script, and the human connection—the essence of healing—is replaced with screens and software.

That’s not a dystopian movie plot. That’s where modern healthcare may be heading, and it’s exactly what Dr. Ti Pence warns against in this powerful episode of the Crackin’ Backs Podcast.

We started with one hard-hitting question:
“Why are schools graduating weaker healthcare providers?”

And what unfolded was a raw, unfiltered conversation about how the pandemic, technology, and a cultural shift toward shortcuts are gutting the foundation of medicine: hands-on skill, experience, and human judgment.

The Decline of Repetition and the Rise of Convenience

Dr. Pence doesn’t mince words:
“We are producing providers who think they’re black belts when they’ve barely moved past white belt.”

Before the pandemic, healthcare education already had cracks. COVID-19 blew those cracks wide open. Zoom classes replaced clinics. “Simulated” learning replaced actual reps. And repetition—the key to mastery—vanished.

The result? A new generation of providers who are tech-savvy, test-heavy, but touch-light. They know theory, but they lack the calloused hands and nuanced feel that only thousands of real-world adjustments and treatments can bring.

“Knowledge has never been more available,” Pence says, “but the desire to do the hard work is less. And if you leave school without a foundation in hands-on skill, you don’t magically gain it later.”

Belt Levels and Illusions of Mastery

The martial arts metaphor is powerful:

In martial arts, a black belt is not mastery—it’s the beginning of true learning.

Yet many young chiropractors (and, frankly, all healthcare providers) leave school thinking they’ve arrived, simply because they were better than their classmates.

“That’s not mastery,” Pence argues. “That’s just a yellow belt.”

This false sense of mastery creates a dangerous echo chamber: practitioners build their own “dojo,” never test themselves against higher-level challenges, and never discover how much they still need to learn.

Enter AI: The Greatest Tool… and the Greatest Threat

While traditional skills decline, another force is shaping the future of healthcare: artificial intelligence.

At Stanford, first-year medical students are already using AI to convert 300-page lectures into podcasts, outlines, flashcards, and self-generated tests. They’re learning faster than ever.

And soon, as Dr. Pence explains, AI will sit between providers and patients—augmenting decisions, analyzing patterns, and perhaps replacing certain roles.

But here’s the kicker:

“AI cannot replicate skilled hands. It cannot feel tissue tension. It cannot look into someone’s eyes and realize their back pain is really about not being able to pick up their child.”

AI may appear empathetic, but as Pence bluntly puts it,

“AI has no empathy. It’s a personality disorder with processing power.”

The Last Frontier: Human Connection

So, where does this leave us?

We’re staring down a healthcare landscape where technology accelerates learning but dilutes skill, where private schools may vanish, and where hands-on expertise—the very thing that makes chiropractors, PTs, and manual therapists unique—is endangered.

And that’s why Pence is fighting.

His message to students and providers:

Do the reps.
Push yourself outside your comfort zone.
Protect the craft of touch.
Use AI as a tool, not a replacement.

Because the day we lose the human element, we lose healthcare itself.

Why This Conversation Matters

This episode of Crackin’ Backs isn’t just about chiropractic. It’s about every profession that touches a human life—medicine, physical therapy, nursing—and what happens when we trade effort for convenience.

If you care about the future of healing, about a generation of providers who can see, feel, and truly connect, you need to hear this conversation.

Watch or Listen Now

🎧 Listen to the full episode: Crackin’ Backs Podcast – Dr. Ti Pence

📺 Watch on YouTube: Crackin’ Backs YouTube Channel

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