AI in Health and Care: Innovation or Overload?

Artificial Intelligence – hailed by the UK Government, NHS, and the wider public sector as the path to efficient operations and intelligent systems. The last years have seen a flurry of strategies, papers and reports, including some published very recently: the UK AI Opportunities Action Plan, the AI Playbook for Government, and the International AI Safety Report 2025, all reinforcing the UK’s ambition to be a global leader in AI. The Health and Care sectors are no exception. Think tanks, research bodies, and arms-length organisations are zeroing in on the potential benefits and risks AI brings to the table. 

For many the public release of ChatGPT on 30th November 2022 was a watershed moment, generative AI was no longer a niche tool for early adopters but ubiquitous and accessible. It became a daily topic and it hasn’t stopped since.  

Am I the Only One Getting AI Fatigue? 

AI is everywhere. Every LinkedIn scroll is AI-generated images, companies showcasing their newly "AI-augmented" services, posts on how AI will revolutionise every industry, and countless "hints and tips" on how to use AI tools to get ahead. 

For the average person, especially those outside tech circles or without time to read every post, paper, and opinion, how do you keep up? Who do you trust? The noise can feel like the ticking clock you don’t notice during the day but at night transforms to the loud strikes keeping you awake. It feels like it’s becoming normal and expected to see it all, but harder to tell what’s meaningful and what’s marketing. 

Outside of social media, events, workshops, webinars, research pilots, papers, research, qualification courses, there is a plethora of learning opportunities to get to grips with.  

Even at HETT Show 2024, feedback was split. Some attendees felt AI wasn't covered enough and requesting we bring more into the show, while others felt it dominated sessions. I think this is indicative of where we are with AI as a society, some are exhaustively seeking knowledge and understanding and some feel other conversations need to be prioritised. As with all polarising topics, the reality probably lies somewhere in the middle of these two viewpoints. I think it’s a symptom of the AI hype that even if you’re curious about the potential for AI, you have to wade through a lot to cut to the core of what is really the groundbreaking progress being made with the right ethical parameters.  

AI in Health and Care: Who’s Leading, Who’s Riding the Wave? 

Patient safety, trust, and accountability are non-negotiable in health and care, and many brilliant experts clinicians, academics, and communicators are rightly grounding AI discussions in ethics, bias, and proportionate risk. At the recent MHRA Innovation Showcase hosted by TechUK, the regulator shared how it is using AI to support clinical trials, evaluate applications, detect illegal online sales of fake medicines, and streamline internal processes, including HR. 

The MHRA’s core aims of protecting public health, ensuring patient safety, and bringing innovations to market are underpinned by secure-by-design systems, the removal of legacy tech, and agile, iterative development. Crucially, they plan for deployment from the proof-of-concept stage, embedding adoption throughout the lifecycle. Claire Harrison, Chief Digital and Technology Officer, emphasised that patterns and processes from one project can inform others, enabling knowledge sharing across regulators and the wider public sector. 

Their method was to scan, evaluate, prove by doing, guided the AI use cases, aligning with the UK Government’s AI Playbook, Action Plan, and usability and accessibility standards. This sparked discussions on where AI delivers the most value. Umang Patel, CCIO of Microsoft UK, highlighted the safe use of AI in “back office” tasks and in “medium office” settings like scheduling MDTs, while making clear AI should not influence clinical decision-making or treatment, but instead free up time for direct care. 

Is AI Really Serving Us? Or Are We Serving It? 

The metrics obsession (accuracy! efficiency! cost-saving!) can often feel like it overshadows lived experience, risk tolerance, and contextual judgment.  

One of the most common narratives around AI in health is improved accuracy over human counterparts. But do we talk enough about the risk of human error compared to AI error? 

There’s a psychological double standard here. When humans make mistakes in healthcare misdiagnoses, treatment errors we tend to accept it as a tragic but inevitable risk. When AI makes mistakes, it’s often seen as catastrophic or unacceptable, or scary, even if, statistically, AI reduces overall error rates.  

Which risk is more tolerable? And who decides what level of risk is tolerable? Patients? Clinicians? Policymakers? If we don’t include diverse voices in this debate, we risk building systems that serve institutions, not individuals. 

It's here in the conversation that I think we come close to really having to interrogate what it means to be human and consider what is knowledge, what is consciousness? Something I imagine is deeply individual and personal depending on who you ask. 

Another key consideration is the cost of inaction. While we face well-known challenges such as underfunding, deficits, clinical staff attrition, national reorganisation, and inconsistent digital implementation, we must weigh these against the risks of not embracing change. AI is no silver bullet, but avoiding engagement altogether could entrench current problems more deeply than the effort required to develop a balanced and effective relationship with emerging technologies 

It’s also worth remembering that modern medicine has been built on foundations of knowledge gleaned from ethically questionable practices, from the exploitation of vulnerable populations to inhumane experimentation. Today’s medical ethics are a hard-won evolution, and as we introduce AI, we must continue to raise the bar on ethics without stifling innovation. 

How Can We Guide AI – And Is It Sustainable? 

Yes, we can guide AI, but we need to be mindful of shaping the trajectory thoughtfully. The UK Government’s ambition to lead in AI is commendable, but governance, public dialogue, and clinician involvement need to evolve alongside the technology. 

When we talk about AI sustainability, we often focus on environmental factors: energy use, server farms, emissions. But what about human and societal sustainability? 

• Is the pace of AI change sustainable for clinicians and healthcare providers already stretched thin? 
• Is it realistic to expect constant upskilling to adapt to ever-changing AI tools? 
• Can public trust keep up with the speed of innovation, especially when people are unsure who to believe? 

We need to think about sustainable adoption risk proportionate, measured, human-centred AI, not just flashy disruptions. 

Where Do We Go From Here? 

There’s a tension between the promise of AI and the reality of its implementation. Some people are exhaustively chasing AI knowledge, eager to innovate. Others are feeling overrun, fatigued, and sceptical. Both camps have valid concerns. 

We need to: 

• Elevate trustworthy voices and demand transparency from vendors and experts. 
• Prioritise ethical, patient-first deployment of AI tools. 
• Encourage measured conversations that include risks, benefits, and the lived experiences of clinicians and patients. 
• Ensure AI augments human care, not overwhelms or replaces it. 

Ultimately, AI is not a destination but it’s a tool. It’s up to us whether it becomes a tool for empowerment or a force for disconnection and fatigue. 

Let’s choose the former and steer the conversation with curiosity, scepticism, and above all, humanity. 

Would love to hear your thoughts, whether you're an AI enthusiast, a healthcare professional seeking an answer to chronic challenges, a true sceptic or somewhere in between. Is AI serving us? Or is it time to hit pause and recalibrate? 

Join us at our upcoming event, HETT Show on 7-8th October at ExCeL London to be part of the conversation. Register your interest below.