Naturopathy and Natural Therapies World Conference 2026

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving rapidly from “future concept” to everydaytool in healthcare. Across the broader healthcare literature, AI hasdemonstrated potential to improve efficiency, support clinical reasoning,strengthen documentation, and expand access—particularly through naturallanguage technologies and decision-support systems. At the same time,research and real-world deployments consistently highlight material risks: biasand inequity, privacy and data governance failures, opaque reasoning,hallucinated or incorrect outputs, workflow misalignment, and clinician over-reliance. These benefits and risks are not abstract; they directly shape patientsafety, professional accountability, and trust. For naturopathy and natural therapies, the opportunity is significant—but so arethe risks. This presentation offers a practitioner-first, ethics-forward approachto integrating AI into naturopathic care in ways that enhance thoroughness andpersonalisation without eroding clinical sovereignty or the therapeuticrelationship. The session synthesises (1) the broader evidence base on AI’simpact in healthcare, (2) emerging insights from an Australian national surveyexploring naturopaths’ perceptions, readiness, and priority use-cases for AIadoption (in progress), and (3) governance and implementation learnings fromprofessional body leadership. The talk then translates this evidence into a practical pathway: aHuman→AI→Human workflow (story first, AI for structure and synthesis,practitioner judgement final) and a policy-to-practice toolkit aligned with NHAA Ethical AI in Naturopathy: 1 AI & Technology SIG initiatives—ethical guardrails, transparency and consentlanguage, and capability standards for practitioners and educators. The goal isto support naturopaths to become informed initiators of safe, credible AIintegration—leading the narrative, protecting the integrity of natural therapies,and modernising practice responsibly