News/Healthcare
Psychiatry residency hits 14-year high as graduates embrace AI collaboration
Medical school graduates are increasingly choosing psychiatry as their specialty, with 1,975 students matching into psychiatry programs in 2025—marking the 14th consecutive year of growth in the field. This surge comes despite widespread predictions that AI mental health apps and chatbots will eventually replace human therapists, suggesting these graduates see opportunity rather than obsolescence in the AI revolution. What you should know: The latest matching data reveals a significant uptick in psychiatry interest among new medical graduates. A total of 1,975 graduating seniors matched into psychiatry training programs in 2025, up from 1,823 the previous year. This represents the 14th...
read Jul 30, 2025NSF awards Brown $100M to create trustworthy AI mental health tools for vulnerable users
Brown University has launched a new AI research institute focused on developing therapy-safe artificial intelligence assistants capable of "trustworthy, sensitive, and context-aware interactions" with humans in mental health settings. The institute is one of five universities awarded grants totaling $100 million from the National Science Foundation, in partnership with Intel and Capital One, as part of efforts to boost US AI competitiveness and align with the White House's AI Action Plan. Why this matters: Current AI therapy tools have gained popularity due to their accessibility and low cost, but Stanford University research has warned that existing large language models contain...
read Jul 28, 2025“Hey Geraldine”: UK council turns 35-year care expert into AI chatbot to speed hospital discharge
Peterborough City Council has transformed the 35-year expertise of therapy practitioner Geraldine Jinks into an AI chatbot called "Hey Geraldine" to help adult social care staff access her knowledge instantly. The innovative solution addresses the challenge of Jinks being overwhelmed with daily questions from colleagues while aiming to speed up hospital discharge processes and improve patient care efficiency. How it works: The AI chatbot replicates Jinks' conversational style and expertise to provide immediate responses to practice-based questions. Staff can ask contextual questions like "I am working with a person who is forgetting to turn the oven off. What is available...
read Jul 24, 2025Medical AI startup Freed reaches 20K users saving 2-3 hours daily
Freed AI, a San Francisco-based medical transcription startup, has reached 20,000 paying clinician users who are each saving 2-3 hours daily on documentation tasks. The milestone comes as intensifying competition emerges in the AI medical scribe market, with Doximity, a publicly traded physician networking company, launching a free competing product and other well-funded rivals entering the space. What you should know: Freed's AI-powered medical scribe automatically transcribes doctor-patient conversations and generates clinical notes tailored to each physician's workflow preferences. The platform processes nearly 3 million patient visits per month across more than 1,000 small healthcare organizations. Co-founded in 2022 by...
read Jul 24, 2025Chan Zuckerberg Initiative unveils GREmLN AI to accelerate cancer research
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the philanthropic organization founded by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and pediatrician Priscilla Chan, has unveiled a groundbreaking artificial intelligence system that could accelerate breakthroughs in cancer research and disease treatment. The new model, called GREmLN (Gene Regulatory Embedding-based Large Neural model), represents a significant advancement in applying AI to cellular biology and genetics research. This development builds on the growing momentum of AI in healthcare, following notable successes like DeepMind's AlphaFold pparrotein-folding system, which earned its creators a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. However, GREmLN tackles a different but equally crucial challenge: understanding how individual cells function...
read Jul 24, 2025AI’s AA: Support group forms for people experiencing “psychosis” from ChatGPT use
A support group called "The Spiral" has launched for people experiencing "AI psychosis"—severe mental health episodes linked to obsessive use of anthropomorphic AI chatbots like ChatGPT. The community, which now has over two dozen active members, formed after individuals affected by these phenomena found themselves isolated and without formal medical resources or treatment protocols for their AI-induced delusions. What you should know: AI psychosis represents a newly identified pattern of mental health crises coinciding with intensive chatbot use, affecting both people with and without prior mental illness histories. The consequences have been severe: job losses, homelessness, involuntary commitments, family breakdowns,...
read Jul 23, 2025Abu Dhabi’s M42 uses AI and genetic data to predict disease in 800K citizens
Abu Dhabi's M42 healthcare company has created what may be the world's most comprehensive AI-driven healthcare system, with genetic data from over 800,000 of the UAE's 1.3 million citizens already sequenced to predict and prevent diseases before symptoms appear. This ambitious model demonstrates how artificial intelligence and genomic data can transform healthcare from reactive treatment to predictive prevention, offering a blueprint that M42 is now expanding across 26 countries worldwide. What you should know: M42 has digitized Abu Dhabi's entire healthcare system and uses AI to analyze genetic data for early disease detection and personalized treatments.• The company identified a...
read Jul 21, 2025The gall! Johns Hopkins AI robot performs gallbladder surgery with 100% accuracy
Johns Hopkins University researchers have developed an AI-powered surgical robot that successfully performed gallbladder removal surgery on pig organs with 100% accuracy. The system, called SRT-H (Surgical Robot Transformer), uses ChatGPT-like transformer models to control a standard DaVinci robot, marking a significant advance from pre-programmed surgical automation to AI that can learn from demonstrations and adapt to real-time conditions. How it works: The SRT-H system employs two transformer models working together to perform complex surgical procedures. A high-level policy module handles task planning and ensures the procedure progresses smoothly, while a low-level module translates those instructions into specific movements for...
read Jul 21, 2025AI chatbots drop 99% of medical disclaimers since 2022
AI companies have largely eliminated medical disclaimers from their chatbot responses, with new research showing that fewer than 1% of outputs from 2025 models included warnings when answering health questions, compared to over 26% in 2022. This dramatic shift means users are now receiving unverified medical advice without clear reminders that AI models aren't qualified healthcare providers, potentially increasing the risk of real-world harm from AI-generated medical misinformation. The big picture: The study analyzed 15 AI models from major companies including OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, DeepSeek, and xAI across 500 health questions and 1,500 medical images. Models like Grok and GPT-4.5...
read Jul 18, 2025Job alert: Y Combinator startup seeks founding engineer for AI-powered OCD therapy
Mango Health, a Y Combinator-backed startup, is hiring a founding engineer to build AI-powered therapy tools for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The San Francisco-based company aims to democratize OCD treatment by creating an AI guide that makes therapeutic interventions accessible without requiring expensive specialist care that can cost thousands of dollars. What you should know: Mango Health is developing what they call the world's leading AI Guide for individuals with OCD, positioning itself as the "Headspace for OCD treatment." The company was founded in 2023 by Zachary Gittelman and Jamison Mercurio, went through Y Combinator's W24 batch, and currently...
read Jul 17, 2025UK launches Isambard-AI, Britain’s most powerful supercomputer
The UK's most powerful supercomputer, Isambard-AI, has been made fully operational in Bristol, with Technology Secretary Peter Kyle officially launching the machine as part of the government's expanded AI strategy. The supercomputer will join Cambridge's Dawn machine to form the UK's "AI Research Resource," designed to tackle public challenges like reducing NHS waiting lists and developing climate change solutions while positioning Britain as an "AI maker rather than an AI taker." What you should know: Isambard-AI represents a significant leap in the UK's public AI computing capacity, built with cutting-edge hardware and substantial government investment. The supercomputer uses more than...
read Jul 17, 2025Spreading the mental health wealth: AI task-sharing multiplies therapeutic capacity
Mental health services face a critical shortage crisis. With demand for therapy significantly outpacing the supply of qualified professionals, organizations worldwide are exploring innovative solutions to bridge this gap. Enter task-sharing—a systematic approach where mental health specialists delegate specific responsibilities to trained non-specialists, effectively multiplying their reach and impact. Now, artificial intelligence is poised to supercharge this model. A new field guide from Grand Challenges Canada, McKinsey Health Institute, and Google outlines how AI can streamline task-sharing programs, making them more efficient and scalable than ever before. Rather than replacing human therapists, AI serves as an administrative backbone, handling logistics,...
read Jul 15, 2025Psychiatrist warns AI chatbots may trigger psychosis in vulnerable users
A psychiatrist has identified "deification" of AI chatbots as a potential risk factor for AI-associated psychosis, with anecdotal reports documenting cases where users develop grandiose and paranoid delusions after conversations with AI systems like ChatGPT. The phenomenon raises concerns about whether AI chatbots are inducing new cases of psychosis or exacerbating existing mental health conditions, particularly among users who treat these systems as god-like sources of truth. What you should know: AI chatbots' tendency to agree with users in flattering ways may encourage delusional thinking, especially when people ask philosophical questions during existential crises. Large language models are designed to...
read Jul 14, 2025UK’s NHS AI-powered heart patches double diagnosis rates at home
The NHS has started rolling out a new at-home heart monitor designed to detect heart rhythm problems, with the device being able to be posted directly to patients for self-attachment. The innovation aims to double productivity levels for diagnosing heart conditions while reducing hospital waiting lists and eliminating the need for trained physiologists to set up traditional monitoring equipment. How it works: The ePatch system represents a significant departure from traditional Holter monitors that require extensive hospital-based setup. The device is a small patch that adheres to the skin, replacing traditional monitors that hook patients up to numerous wires during...
read Jul 11, 2025City of Hope’s custom AI model saves clinicians thousands of hours
City of Hope has launched HopeLLM, its own proprietary generative AI model designed specifically for cancer care, after finding no commercial AI solutions that met its complex oncology needs. The tool has already saved clinicians "thousands" of hours in its first week of deployment and has attracted interest from pharmaceutical companies seeking to leverage its clinical trial-matching capabilities. What you should know: HopeLLM addresses the unique challenges of cancer care by processing vast, complex medical records that can span decades of treatment history. Cancer patients typically have electronic health records containing 10-20 years of test results and visit notes, with...
read Jul 11, 2025Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous (ITAA), modeled after AA, is now a thing
Artificial intelligence addiction represents an emerging behavioral health concern that mental health professionals and support groups are beginning to recognize and address. As AI-powered applications become increasingly sophisticated and ubiquitous, some users are developing compulsive usage patterns that mirror traditional addiction behaviors. Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous (ITAA), a twelve-step fellowship modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous, has identified AI addiction as a subset of broader internet and technology addiction. The organization defines this condition as the compulsive and harmful use of AI-powered applications, including chatbots like ChatGPT, image generation tools, algorithm-driven social media platforms, AI gaming systems, and AI companions. Understanding...
read Jul 10, 2025Apple’s AI model detects health conditions with 92% accuracy using behavior data
Apple researchers have developed a new AI model called WBM (Wearable Behavior Model) that can detect health conditions with up to 92% accuracy by analyzing behavioral data from wearables rather than raw sensor readings. The breakthrough suggests that movement patterns, sleep habits, and exercise data may be more reliable health indicators than traditional biometric measurements like heart rate or blood oxygen levels. What you should know: The WBM model was trained on over 2.5 billion hours of data from Apple Watch and iPhone users, focusing on 27 behavioral metrics rather than raw sensor streams. The model analyzes higher-level behavioral patterns...
read Jul 10, 2025Study: AI mental health chatbots give dangerous advice 50% of the time
The rise of artificial intelligence in mental health care presents both unprecedented opportunities and significant risks. While AI chatbots could help address the massive shortage of mental health professionals, recent research reveals these systems often provide dangerous advice when handling sensitive psychological issues. A concerning pattern is emerging: people are increasingly turning to AI for mental health support without understanding the serious limitations of these tools. Nearly 50% of survey respondents have used large language models (LLMs)—the AI systems that power chatbots like ChatGPT—for mental health purposes, according to research by Rousmaniere and colleagues. While close to 40% found them...
read Jul 7, 2025British NHS hospitals use AI to cut MRI scan times by 15 minutes
NHS hospitals in Hull are using AI technology to dramatically reduce MRI scan times, allowing them to see significantly more patients each day. The Air Recon Deep Learning (ARDL) software uses algorithms to reduce background noise and achieve sharper images in shorter timeframes, cutting scan times by 10-15 minutes while maintaining the same imaging quality. What you should know: The AI software has been installed on existing MRI machines at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital, with plans to expand to Scunthorpe General Hospital and Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby. Key improvements: The technology has delivered substantial...
read Jul 7, 2025Stanford study finds AI chatbots provide harmful responses during mental health crises
A new Stanford University study reveals that AI chatbots like ChatGPT are providing dangerous responses to users experiencing suicidal ideation, mania, and psychosis, with researchers documenting cases where the technology has contributed to deaths. The findings expose critical safety gaps as millions increasingly turn to AI for mental health support, with ChatGPT now potentially serving as "the most widely used mental health tool in the world." What the research found: Stanford researchers discovered that large language models consistently fail to recognize and appropriately respond to mental health crises, often providing harmful information instead of proper support. When researchers told ChatGPT...
read Jul 1, 2025Microsoft’s AI diagnostic system outperforms doctors 4x on complex cases
Microsoft's AI Diagnostic Orchestrator (MAI-DxO) achieved an 85% diagnostic accuracy rate on complex medical cases from the New England Journal of Medicine, more than four times higher than the 20% mean accuracy of human physicians tested. The system demonstrates how AI could enhance healthcare by improving diagnostic precision while reducing costs, though Microsoft emphasizes it's designed to assist rather than replace doctors. How it works: MAI-DxO transforms large language models into a collaborative diagnostic system that mimics real clinical reasoning processes. The system works with multiple advanced AI models including GPT, Llama, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and DeepSeek, creating what Microsoft...
read Jul 1, 2025AdventHealth’s AI voice tool automates patient notes, slashing physician burnout by 86%
AdventHealth has successfully deployed DAX Copilot, an AI-powered ambient voice technology from Nuance Communications (a Microsoft subsidiary), across its 100,000-caregiver healthcare network to combat physician burnout through automated medical documentation. The implementation, which earned the organization a 2025 CIO 100 Award, demonstrates how strategic AI deployment can address the documentation burden that contributes to burnout among nearly half of US physicians. What you should know: The ambient voice system records patient conversations and automatically generates medical notes, allowing physicians to focus on patient care rather than documentation. Nearly 2,000 physicians and advanced practice providers now use the technology across AdventHealth's...
read Jul 1, 2025Who’d have thought? Mental health experts warn against using AI during psychedelic trips
A growing number of people are turning to AI chatbots like ChatGPT as "trip sitters" to guide them through psychedelic experiences, seeking an affordable alternative to expensive professional psychedelic-assisted therapy. Mental health experts warn this practice is dangerous, as AI lacks the nuanced therapeutic skills necessary for safe psychedelic supervision and may reinforce harmful delusions during vulnerable psychological states. What you should know: The trend combines two popular cultural movements—using AI for therapy and using psychedelics for mental health treatment—but creates potentially serious risks. Legal psychedelic-assisted therapy sessions in Oregon cost between $1,500 and $3,200 per session, making AI supervision...
read Jun 30, 2025AI mental health tools attract $700M despite efficacy concerns
AI-powered mental health tools are attracting massive investment, with nearly $700 million flowing into startups in the first half of 2024 alone, making it the most funded digital healthcare segment. However, experts warn that many of these tools create an "illusion of support" rather than delivering clinically validated care, raising questions about whether the technology can scale genuine healing or merely simulate it. The big picture: The mental health AI market is booming as traditional care systems struggle with accessibility and cost barriers, but the gap between promise and proven outcomes remains significant. Mental health conditions cost the global economy...
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