AVT

A correspondent in the financial services industry told me recently that while he found AI tools a bit unreliable on tricky questions - and he was paid to be right every time - he also found that they were very good at taking the minutes of meetings. Saved lots of time - and presumably the people at the meetings were happy with the results.  In my days in the world of work at least, meetings always started with minutes of the last meeting, a good opportunity for people to chip in if they did not agree with what they said had been said. Checking built in.

So this afternoon, I was interested when my telephone told me that my GP was starting to use something called Surgery Intellect, to be found at reference 1. From which I learn that it is a health care application of something called Ambient Voice Technology, to be found at reference 2, from which the snap above it taken.

All looks quire helpful to me, quite possibly a cheap way to take some of the heat out of primary care, with primary carers no longer having to write things up as they go, being able to let the computer take the strain. I dare say the computer will make mistakes from time to time - but quite probably fewer than an overworked primary carer.

Some corroboration of the allegation by a former correspondent that the former Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, thought that technology was going to be the magic bullet that was going to save the health service. I might say that this particular correspondent was not at all convinced, so maybe the NHS needs to have a care for public relations here. With this advertisement from my surgery, to my mind, being a good start on that front.

One small fly in the ointment. From reference 3 we have:

'... Clinicians described the AI-scribing tool as “transformative” with particular benefits for neurodivergent staff and those working in high-pressure environments. There was a 35% reduction in clinicians feeling overwhelmed by notetaking and qualitative feedback focused on improved satisfaction with time, attention, and documentation accuracy. The technology was widely viewed as enabling better patient care...'.

I wondered what neurodivergent staff means in this context.

Gemini tells me that there is plenty of it in the NHS workforce, more or less in line with prevalence in the wider population and massively underreported to HR - which last is entirely understandable. What a can of worms, part of which is snapped above. Hoist with their own petard!

For the avoidance of doubt, I record here that I am entirely happy for the NHS to use these tools during or as part of my interactions with them.

References

Reference 1: https://www.x-on.co.uk/surgery-intellect/.

Reference 2: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/ambient-scribing.

Reference 3: https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/news/researchgosh-led-trial-of-ai-scribe-technology-shows-transformative-benefits-for-patients-and-clinicians-across-london/. GOSH is Great Ormond Street Hospital, not to be confused with GESH which is St George’s, Epsom and St Helier Hospital Group, with which acronym I am more familiar.