The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized various sectors, including healthcare, by enhancing diagnostic precision, operational efficiency and personalized care. Despite its vast potential, integrating AI into healthcare remains a complex challenge. Addressing this requires a comprehensive understanding of the research landscape to guide future innovations. This study analyzes the intellectual structure and emerging trends in AI applications within healthcare through co-citation and co-word analysis. A total of 24,973 publications from the Scopus database, spanning 2000–2024, were examined to observe growth patterns, with 4,043 journal articles analyzed in depth. The findings identify five thematic clusters: technology and implementation, health and disease, treatment and care, algorithms and techniques, and social and ethical aspects. These clusters reflect the evolving focus of AI …