And Then She Asked Me...
Anca Petre
HealthTech & Web3 Expert @Into The Metahealth | Cofounder @MedShake Studio | TEDx Speaker & Author
Pour la version fran?aise, c'est par ici : https://metahealth.substack.com/
Non-Fungible Thoughts
I recently attended a panel discussion, and someone asked a question that caught me off guard: "What can doctors do that AI will never be able to?" Instinctively, I was ready to give what seemed like the obvious answer: doctors have empathy, the "human touch" that AI could never replicate. But then, I hesitated. After a moment of reflection, I realized—it’s not that simple.
What followed was a deep dive into a question that challenged everything I thought I knew about healthcare, technology, and what it means to be human. Today, I want to share that reflection with you.
For years, we’ve believed that the essence of healthcare lies in the human connection—the empathy of a doctor, the trust of a patient. But today, we’re seeing something surprising:
Some patients are starting to feel more comfortable discussing sensitive topics with AI than with real doctors.
Why? Because AI doesn’t judge.
For some, talking to an AI about embarrassing symptoms or taboo topics is easier than facing a human who might silently disapprove.
It sounds strange, but it’s already happening. AI-powered chatbots can respond with understanding, patience, and even simulate compassion. They don’t get frustrated, they don’t rush, and they don’t carry the biases or exhaustion that humans sometimes do.
If that’s true, it begs the question:
Have we, as humans, focused too much on the technical side of medicine at the cost of true empathy?
Have medical studies prioritized things that AI will soon do as well—diagnosing, analyzing data, delivering information—while ignoring the deeper human skills that technology can’t replace?
We truly need to ask ourselves what role doctors will play in the future and not shy away from the question because we might not like the answer.
Should we be focusing more on training doctors to connect, to listen, to support?
If AI can handle the technical side, perhaps the real value of human doctors will lie in something deeper—the ability to form genuine, empathetic relationships with patients.
This isn’t about stepping away from technology.
It’s about recognizing that what makes humans irreplaceable in healthcare might not be their technical expertise.
AI will likely excel at diagnosing diseases, interpreting scans, and even generating virtual worlds for surgery simulation. But can it hold a patient’s hand when they’re scared? Can it notice the subtle emotional cues that tell you something is deeply wrong?
The future of healthcare might not be about AI replacing doctors, but about doctors evolving alongside AI.
We need to redefine what it means to be a doctor in a world where technology handles the technical.
Medical education should shift focus—less on mastering the data-driven tasks that AI will handle, and more on honing the deeply human skills that no algorithm can replicate.
Empathy, trust, listening—these are the things that AI may simulate but never fully embody. And in a world where patients increasingly turn to AI for answers, doctors must become the irreplaceable bridge between technology and the human experience of care.
Under the Microscope
Today, we focus on Dr. Vanessa Leung , an expert in digital health and wearable technologies. With a PhD in Applied Physics, her career includes leadership roles in Swiss MedTech and a Novartis FreeNovation grant for eye-tracking innovation.
Now heading the Digital Wellbeing group at St. P?lten University of Applied Sciences in Austria, her work spans academic research, industry collaboration, and healthcare projects. She has led initiatives such as using wearable technology to promote healthy vision in children and developing tools for remote health monitoring.
Dr Leung is also part of the brilliant organizing team of build.well.being 2024 that we had the chance of attending last week in Vienna, Austria!
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Web3 Deciphered
What Is Self-Sovereign Identity?
You’ve heard about blockchain revolutionizing industries, but how does Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) fit into the healthcare puzzle?
What is SSI? In simple terms, self-sovereign identity is a digital identity model that puts you in control of your personal data. With SSI, individuals hold their own verifiable credentials (like health records), and they can share them securely without relying on centralized databases or third parties.
Why should healthcare care? Imagine a patient walking into a hospital and, with one scan, sharing all their medical history in a secure, tamper-proof way. No more repeated tests, lost records, or privacy breaches. SSI ensures patients have full control over who accesses their health data and how it's used.
Is this happening now? Yes! Decentralized health platforms are already using SSI frameworks to empower patients, improving how health records, consent, and data sharing are managed.
Podcast Prescription
In this week’s episode, I’m joined by Natalia Sofia , an advocate for patient empowerment in the Web3 space. Natalia has been at the forefront of using blockchain to create decentralized solutions for health data management and clinical trials.
Tune in to learn:
If you’re fascinated by how Web3 is reshaping healthcare, you won’t want to miss this one! Available on all major podcast platforms and YouTube.
Press Pulse
When an international team of researchers set out to create an “AI scientist” to handle the whole scientific process, they didn’t know how far they’d get. Would the system they created really be capable of generating interesting hypotheses, running experiments, evaluating the results, and writing up papers?
“The genie is out of the bottle now that people realize they can actually own a piece of drugs born from their efforts. And it’s only a matter of time until the next billion-dollar drug emerges onchain.”
Mental health is a growing issue for millions. In an effort to meet people where they are with accurate, useful health information, Cleveland Clinic has developed an interactive experience designed to provide users with a mental health break.
?? Its game time ! ??
We are very excited to introduce our new GPT designed to teach you about the wonderful world or Web3 and AI through games and quizzes.
Try it out here (click Start the Game to launch).
See you soon!
Anca
Digital Health Technology Strategist | Bridging Regulation and Product Innovation
6 个月thanks for that panel discussion, Anca Petre. I suggest as well, that we can't answer today this question, as we aren't yet clear what AI is capable of, while we have a rather good though diverse experience what doctors/people are capable of. We shall see :)