CHATBOTS AND VIRTUAL MENTORS IN PHYSIOTHERAPY EDUCATION: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into physiotherapy education is transforming teaching, learning, and mentorship practices. AI-powered chatbots and virtual mentors offer scalable, cost-effective, and personalized learning opportunities, supporting academic learning, skill development, career guidance, and administrative tasks. Chatbots, driven by large language models, provide instant tutoring, facilitate research and academic writing, simulate clinical scenarios, and deliver formative feedback, enhancing student autonomy and engagement. Virtual mentors complement these tools by guiding clinical reasoning, professional skill acquisition, and evidence-based decision-making while promoting self-directed learning and personalized educational pathways. Both technologies support remote and blended learning environments, bridging gaps in accessibility, especially in resource-constrained settings. While these tools demonstrate significant benefits in reinforcing foundational knowledge, developing communication and clinical skills, and fostering interprofessional collaboration, limitations persist, including inaccuracies, ethical concerns, potential overreliance, and insufficient physiotherapy-specific validation. Therefore, AI-based chatbots and virtual mentors are best implemented as supplements to human instruction, ensuring that critical thinking, professional judgment, and empathy remain central to training. Future research should focus on empirically validating these tools, optimizing discipline-specific applications, and integrating them ethically and effectively within curricula to prepare competent, technologically literate, and reflective physiotherapy practitioners.