What can AI medicine do for you?

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where identical twin doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.

Can AI empower better self-care and clinical practice, or is it just more health noise? Most of us have fallen down a search engine rabbit hole only to emerge more confused about our symptoms than when we started. But as we enter the era of Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, the landscape of medical information is shifting.

In this episode, Chris and Xand van Tulleken debate whether these AI chatbots, with their vast medical knowledge and surprisingly good "bedside manner", are a breakthrough for patient clarity or a new frontier for misinformation. From asking a chatbot about a "creaky knee" to AI’s burgeoning role in analysing scans, the twins explore a technology that is already transforming GP surgeries and laboratories alike.

While there is plenty to be cautiously excited about, big questions remain. Can we truly trust AI-generated advice? When is it helpful, and when is it dangerous?

To help navigate this rapidly evolving space, Chris and Xand are joined by Dr Emma Karoune, Principal Investigator of the Clinical AI Interest Group and Advancing Biomedical Data Science Careers project at The Alan Turing Institute. Together, they break down what patients and practitioners need to look out for in the age of AI medicine.

If you’d like to share your thoughts on this or any other topic covered on the podcast, you email us at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.uk.

Presenters: Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken Guest: Dr Emma Karoune Producer: Rami Tzabar Executive Producer: Jo Rowntree Assistant Producer: Mili Ostojic Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable Visual Producer: Leon Gower Digital Lead: Richard Berry Composer: Phoebe McFarlane Sound Design: Olga Reed

At the BBC: Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts

A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4