FHC #155: The road to AI-empowered healthcare (from ‘ChatGPT, MD’)

Fixing Healthcare Podcast

In this episode of the Fixing Healthcare podcast, co-host Dr. Robert Pearl marks the two-year anniversary of ChatGPT’s public launch with an exclusive reading from his 2024 book, “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine.”

With the holiday season approaching, listeners are encouraged to consider ChatGPT, MD as a gift for friends and family. All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders.

The book was featured recently in a list of 25 nonfiction works recommended by bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote: “I was skeptical about the value artificial intelligence will bring to medicine, until I read ChatGPT, MD. Now I’m a believer. There is no one who writes more clearly and persuasively about the challenges and opportunities of modern medicine than Robert Pearl.”

In this episode of Fixing Healthcare, Pearl reads from two pivotal chapters. Chapter 11, “The Road to AI-Empowered Healthcare,” outlines a compelling vision for Healthcare 4.0—an era where the introduction of generative AI tools like ChatGPT empower patients and doctors to enhance efficiency, reduce burnout and restore patient-centered care. In Chapter 11.5, “ChatGPT’s Critical Analysis of Chapter Eleven,” Pearl’s AI co-author critiques his predictions, emphasizing the technological, economic and societal challenges that must be overcome to realize this future.

Pearl’s reading reveals the book’s central argument: generative AI offers a path to better healthcare, but success hinges on systemic reform, human-AI collaboration and leaders who are willing to confront medicine’s entrenched inefficiencies. As Pearl notes, the AI revolution in healthcare is not a foregone conclusion. If Americans fail to act decisively, the promise of Healthcare 4.0 will collapse under the weight of its own unrealized potential, leaving both doctors and patients at the mercy of corporate interests.

HELPFUL LINKS

• ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine (available now)
• A list of Malcolm Gladwell’s 25 book recommendations (link)
• Robert Pearl’s Monthly Musings on American Healthcare newsletter (link)

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Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post FHC #155: The road to AI-empowered healthcare (from ‘ChatGPT, MD’) appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.