The author of Dr Bot: Why Doctors Can Fail Us and How AI Could Save Lives, Dr Charlotte Blease, says our very “humanness” – the biases, blind spots and emotional complexities of both clinicians and patients – can undermine the delivery of healthcare.

Dr Blease is Associate Professor in Health Informatics at Uppsala University and researcher in Digital Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and she appears on the most recent episode of PULSE the Podcast to discuss her new book, available in Australia on October 11.

She is interviewed by hosts Dr Louise Schaper and Dr George Margelis.  Through a mix of anthropology, psychology, and digital health insight, she explores how AI could play a role in improving consultations, reducing information asymmetry and supporting both patients and clinicians in making better decisions.

“I structured the book to be accessible from both patient and doctor perspectives. Starting with the familiar journey – symptoms, making an appointment, consultation, diagnosis, and treatment – I wanted to break it down into its psychological challenges and explore whether technology could address them,” she said.

She says technology should be designed to work with human psychology, helping doctors and patients overcome biases, information overload and system pressures.

“It’s going to be harder and harder to ignore the voice of patients because technology is empowering patients in a way that is very hard to deny. The fact of the matter is it’s empowering doctors as well – not just through your ambient AI tool that’s helping you with your documentation – but in terms of even as a diagnostic tool.”