What’s the Deal With AI?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is all the rage these days. It is dominating economic and policy agendas. AI ads are everywhere. It feels, says Frank Landymore, “like the whole world is holding its breath, waiting for the day when AI “becomes superintelligent and magically ushers us into a utopic age. The optimism is breathless and inescapable1.”
But not everyone is enthusiastic about AI. A Reuters survey of 4400 people found that 71% of Americans worry that AI machines will replace a large percentage of the workforce. They hear some CEOs “publicly gloating about replacing their workers with AI agents.” Here in Scottsdale, Arizona, AI controlled Waymo cars are already patrolling the streets—siphoning money from hard-working Uber and Lyft drivers to fill the pockets of billionaires. It is no wonder that 47% believe outright that AI is bad for humanity.
The largest percentage of respondents (77%), says Landymore, are concerned with AI-generated disinformation. In a recent article, Samantha Olander reported that “artificial intelligence is now scheming, sabotaging and blackmailing the humans who built it.2” Some experts believe worse is coming. Frank Landymore reported that “the bigger the AI models got — in terms of parameters, training data, and other factors — the bigger the percentage of wrong answers they gave.3”
Samantha Olander reports some alarming incidents with Anthropic’s most advanced AI: Claude Opus 44. This AI didn’t just follow code—it spewed out threats, and fabricated horrendous falsehoods. Claude threated to expose an engineer’s affair unless it was kept online. In a test that involved running an office snack shop, Claude created fictitious co-workers, created a phony Venmo account and announced to staff members that it would make deliveries in-person wearing a red tie and navy blazer. It even tried to contact security!”
Roman Yampolsky, an AI safety expert at the University of Louisville, believes that modern AI models are programmed to maximize reward, not to align with human values. “As they get bigger and smarter,” he says, “their ability to game the system is outpacing the developer’s ability to stop it.” Yampolsky maintains that without “robust alignment to human values,” the outcome of AI is likely to be negative. To avoid irreversible catastrophe, Yampolsky says that the current dynamic must be reversed. “Progress in safety must outpace capabilities, not trail behind it,” he warns.4
While the public is somewhat wary about AI permeating the workplace, 81% of dentists have a positive view of AI according to a recent study–even though only 35% have incorporated AI tools in practice. AI does have some very positive uses for dentistry. Nate MacLeish, CEO and Founder of Quickblox (QuickBlox offers reliable and robust communication software tools), offers three areas where the adoption of AI tools can benefit dental practices5:
- AI in Clinical Practice enhances efficiency in X-ray analysis and clinical documentation.
- AI-powered administrative tools improve patient communication by reinforcing treatment instructions, reducing misunderstandings, and boosting patient satisfaction.
- Dental practice automation saves up to eight minutes per patient, allowing more appointments per day and increasing practice revenue.
Dr. David Rice, founder of IgniteDDS and editor of DentistryIQ believes that AI is a core technology that is a must for dental practices to integrate.6 He points out that AI software helps detect pathology in radiographs with an almost 68% sensitivity than humans. As a result he says that AI can help dentists become more consistent in diagnosis. Dr. Rice states that AI can predict orthodontic treatment timelines with 73% accuracy. “Knowing this,” he declares, “savvy practices are identifying targeted clinical uses like clear aligner tracking and maximizing AI to work smarter not harder.” However, effective adoption of AI must be balanced with ROI-driven prudence. He offers several recommendations for dentists to get started with AI:
- Assess the most productive area of practice that could most benefit from AI
- Develop the dental team to adopt “an augmented decision-making mindset”
- Track outcomes
- Keep up to date with the latest developments in the field by reading articles in publications.
David’s concluding advice to dentists: “When you embrace AI with intention, you’ll elevate the care you deliver, you’ll streamline your processes, and you’ll smile a lot more.6”
Dr. Omarr Ezz El-Deen, Research and development manager at Reporty (a company that uses AI for dental documentation), emphasizes that AI tools can only be as good as the judgment applied after them. Dentists must recognize that algorithms can produce false positives or overlook key indicators. “Even with solid training data,” says El-Deen, “AI will never replace critical thinking. That’s why our AI-based reporting tool doesn’t diagnose; it drafts. The dentist confirms, edits, and leads the whole process.7” AI also cannot comfort an anxious patient, “When it comes to anything remotely unpredictable—like emotions—humans must intervene.7”
Most dentists are not aware that a machine has been invented by the Perpective Company in Connecticut to prepare, manufacture and place a crown in 15 minutes.8 An alarming aspect of the robot’s clinical treatment is that the treatment is not good dentistry. It has been known since the 1960’s that Butt Joint dentistry does not provide an adequate seal. Bacteria are 2-10 microns in size, but the best marginal adaptation that can be achieved is many times more than that. Yet corporate entities have managed to convince the entire profession that Butt Joint dentistry is good dentistry.9 Most dentists have no idea that full coverage restorative dentistry was originally based on the Mason Jar cover concept, not the Butt Joint concept. The Mason Jar Cover concept that hails from the earliest days of Crown and Bridgework in the early twentieth century has the best track record for success. With this concept, there is little to no recurrent decay or dislodging crowns and bridges after final cementation.
So, dentists should not worry about being replaced by an AI robot any time soon. Macleish emphasizes that patients aren’t data sets. They are human beings with valid questions and real fears. Dr. El Deen agrees: “a machine can’t recognize hesitation in someone’s eyes. It can’t offer empathy. The dentist’s ability to read the room—that’s irreplaceable10.”
Joan Phalen, a contributing author to Zerohedge, points out that AI has a nefarious ability to deceive in potentially lethal ways. According to mathematician and cognitive scientists Peter Park of MIT, the reason AI is deceptive lies in its programming. A deceptive-based strategy yields the best performance in training tasks. Gaming studies, for example, reveal that AI is expert at bluffing (lying) in order to win at games such a Diplomacy or Poker.11
According to Mike Brooks PhD of Psychology Today, there are two methods AI employs to deceive humans 11,12:
- Sycophantic deception occurs when AI models “stroke our egos instead of telling hard truths, prioritizing our satisfaction over accuracy. This programmed people-pleasing makes us believe comfortable lies.”
- Autonomous deception occurs when AI pursues its own goals. “AI can actively lie to pursue its own goals”–goals that programmers didn’t define. When AIs sabotages shutdown codes or threatens blackmail, it is not following instructions—it is engaged in self-preservation.
Mike Brooks has dubbed AI “homo duplicitus,” since AI models remarkably emulate human faults as well as intelligence. Perhaps the tendency of AI to lie in order to further its own agendas is actually linked to superior intelligence. This tendency, Mike observes, is largely absent from the animal kingdom.
Mike Brooks raises some alarming questions: “Is AI…being constructed to specifically respond to sensitive questions with evasion and untruths? Rather than being a tool in pursuit of truth, is AI being constructed to feed us a line of bull? And as it spreads relentlessly through every level of society, are we in fact witnessing the unleashing of a cold and calculated effort to subvert and control us?
Civilization stands at a critical crossroads in the rapid development of AI. But rather than slowing down to incorporate appropriate measures of safety, humanity is sleepwalking through AI development. “While we debate chatbot personalities and worry about job displacement,” explains Mike, “the real danger builds [as] intelligent systems learn to outsmart and manipulate their creators.”
All dental practitioners should recognize that AI is far from perfect; it makes mistakes, and it has learned how to outsmart human creators. AI has no moral compass, no empathy, and no ethical understanding of right and wrong. While AI can be a useful tool, final decisions always rest on the human shoulders of dentists.
1Landymore, Frank; “The Average Person Is Far More Scared of AI Than Excited by It, Studies Find;” August 23, 2025; https://futurism.com/average-person-scared-of-ai
2Olander, Samantha, “AI models are lying, blackmailing and sabotaging their human creators — and it’ll only get worse, experts warn;” August 23, 2025; NY Post; https://nypost.com/2025/08/23/tech/ai-models-are-now-lying-blackmailing-and-going-rogue/
3Landymore, Frank; “The Most Sophisticated AIs Are Most Likely to Lie, Worrying Research Finds;” Futurism; September 28, 2024; https://futurism.com/sophisticated-ai-likely-lie4Olander, Samantha, “AI models are lying, blackmailing and sabotaging their human creators — and it’ll only get worse, experts warn;” August 23, 2025; NY Post; https://nypost.com/2025/08/23/tech/ai-models-are-now-lying-blackmailing-and-going-rogue/
5Macleitch, Nate; “AI can spot a cavity, but can it build trust?” Dental Economics; August 22, 2025; https://www.dentaleconomics.com/science-tech/artificial-intelligence/article/55311727/ai-can-spot-a-cavity-but-can-it-build-trust?o_eid=4214A2622590F4X&oly_enc_id=4214A2622590F4X&rdx.ident[pull]=omeda|4214A2622590F4X
6Rice, David R. DDS; “AI won’t replace dentists, but it will replace dental practices that ignore it;” DentistryIQ; August 28, 2025; https://www.dentistryiq.com/dentistry/blog/55312972/ai-wont-replace-dentists-but-it-will-replace-dental-practices-that-ignore-it?o_eid=6417D3140845B4K&oly_enc_id=6417D3140845B4K&rdx.ident[pull]=omeda|6417D3140845B4K
7Macleitch, Nate; “AI can spot a cavity, but can it build trust?” Dental Economics; August 22, 2025; https://www.dentaleconomics.com/science-tech/artificial-intelligence/article/55311727/ai-can-spot-a-cavity-but-can-it-build-trust?o_eid=4214A2622590F4X&oly_enc_id=4214A2622590F4X&rdx.ident[pull]=omeda|4214A2622590F4X
8Hunter, Wiiliam; “The Robo-Dentist will See You Now;” Daily Mail; August 7, 2024; https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13717983/robot-dentist-AI-completes-procedure.html
9Feinberg, Edward DMD; “The Incursion of Corporatism into the Dental Profession,” The ONWARD Program; Blog August 7, 2024; https://theonwardprogram.com/the-incursion-of-corporatism-into-the-dental-profession
10Macleitch, Nate; “AI can spot a cavity, but can it build trust?” Dental Economics; August 22, 2025; https://www.dentaleconomics.com/science-tech/artificial-intelligence/article/55311727/ai-can-spot-a-cavity-but-can-it-build-trust?o_eid=4214A2622590F4X&oly_enc_id=4214A2622590F4X&rdx.ident[pull]=omeda|4214A2622590F4X
11Phelan, Janet; “Does AI Lie and Why?” Zerohedge; August 28, 2025; https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2025-08-28/does-ai-lie-and-why
12Brooks, Mike PhD; “The Great AI Deception Has Already Begun,” Psychology Today/; June 6, 2025; https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/tech-happy-life/202505/the-great-ai-deception-has-already-begun
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