GPs ‘can’t be frightened’ of AI, says Baroness Gerada

GPs should not be ‘frightened’ of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine, but rather train themselves on how to use it for their benefit, according to a leading GP.

Speaking at Pulse LIVE London yesterday, Baroness Clare Gerada of Kennington said AI was ‘grist’ to GPs, rather than a threat, because it cannot replicate the interpretative skills of a GP.

The former RCGP chair, who is a practising GP in South London, said: ‘On AI, we all have to train ourselves. … We’re all learning how to use it, and I think we can’t be frightened.’

Describing the pace at which AI technology has advanced, she detailed how she had been asked on two occasions, three years apart, to spot the difference between a GP and AI-generated responses to patient queries.

She said: ‘I got them all right, [but] they repeated it this year with different cases, and I got them all wrong. One answer was so bad, I said that if this is a human that has written this response, then they are disrespectful to GPs – in fact, it was a human that wrote that response.

‘The better responses were all done by AI – so I think we have to learn how to use AI.’

Using genomics as an example, she said: ‘It adds grist to us, because when you’re getting your DNA tested and your gene profile, the only people in the whole of the health system that can translate that meaningfully for each patient is us.’

She added: ‘I think it’s not for patient end, it’s for us, because, as at the patient end, AI always says, “see your health professional”.

The rollout of ‘validated AI diagnostic tools’ and ‘AI administrative tools’ from 2027 is a key element of the NHS 10-year health plan, ‘liberating staff from bureaucracy’ to free up clinical time, according to the Government.

From this year, GPs can select AI transcribing software – known as ambient voice technology (AVT) – from a new ‘national registry’ of suppliers backed by NHS England for use in clinical consultation.

Baroness Gerada was appointed to the House of Lords in October in recognition of her service to medicine and mental health.

She also told Pulse at the event she believed the House of Lords had ‘filibustered’ the assisted dying bill, but said the bill will return and ultimately pass into law.

Also speaking at Pulse LIVE, an ICB’s digital lead predicted AI would never replace the role of GPs.

Dr Tom Micklewright, clinical lead for digital transformation in primary care at Cheshire and Merseyside ICB, told attendees: ‘I don’t think that’s ever going to happen, because general practice isn’t just a big decision tree in my head with a series of yes and no questions.

‘It’s about risk management, it’s about understanding context, it’s about picking up on invisible signals that aren’t communicated. And it’s about helping the patient put their illness in the context of the human experience. None of that stuff is easily automatable.’

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