Jonathan Chen on AI in Medicine: Promise, Pitfalls, and Practice

In this episode of The Future of Medicine, we welcome Jonathan Chen, MD, PhD, clinician, AI researcher, and Associate Professor at Stanford, whose work focuses on combining human and artificial intelligence to improve clinical decision-making.Dr. Chen reflects on the rapid rise of AI in medicine, and the moment he realized everything had changed. He also walks through surprising findings from his research, including studies showing that AI alone can sometimes outperform doctors using AI tools. He explains why this happens, from human bias and “automation errors” to the ways AI systems are designed to agree with users, even when they’re wrong.Looking ahead, Dr. Chen shares his perspective on the future of AI in medicine, including the risks of overreliance, the importance of clinical judgment, and how these tools could transform everything from medical education to patient care. He also explores the concept of “do no harm” in AI systems—and why safety and accuracy are not the same thing.Thank you for listening!Call to action: If you enjoy The Future of Medicine, subscribe for more conversations with leading scientists shaping the next era of healthcare. Please rate and review the podcast to help others discover these important discussions. Share with friends and colleagues who are curious about how science becomes medicine.