In this episode of Pulse, we launch our new alternating format with a deep-dive interview. Louise and George are joined by Dr Charlotte Blease, Associate Professor in Health Informatics at Uppsala University and researcher in Digital Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, to discuss her newly released book Dr Bot: Why Doctors Can Fail Us and How AI Could Save Lives.

Charlotte argues that our very humanness—the biases, blind spots, and emotional complexities of both clinicians and patients—can undermine the delivery of healthcare. 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.

Together, we cover:

• Why Charlotte wrote Dr Bot and why it matters now
• How our nature as humans shapes (and sometimes limits) care delivery
• The role of technology in empathy, bias, and knowledge management
• Patients’ stories, from everyday encounters to high-profile examples like Lisa Marie Presley and Serena Williams
• Whether we can truly remodel healthcare around the patient
• The promises and pitfalls of big tech, surveillance capitalism, and regulation in health
• How AI could shift the culture of medicine, super-charge research, and reimagine the future of healthcare

Whether you’re a clinician, innovator, or simply curious about the intersection of medicine and technology, this conversation will get you thinking about the future of care.

Resources:

• Dr Bot: Why Doctors Can Fail Us and How AI Could Save Lives – available now, releasing in Australia on 11 October (pre-order available)
• Follow Dr Charlotte Blease on LinkedIn
• To win a copy of Dr Bot: rate and review the pod in your app of choice, send us a screenshot at [email protected]

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Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric