Intelligent: The Evolution of AI Transforming Healthcare | Prof Shafi Ahmed

What does it really take to deploy AI in healthcare safely — and who pays for it? In this episode of Immersive & Intelligent Health, Ross O'Brien sits down with surgeon, educator and author Shafi Ahmed to discuss his new book on the evolution of AI in healthcare: Intelligent A self-described futurist, Shafi explains why he has moved toward a more measured position: AI's promise is real, but in a field where errors cost lives, trust and guardrails matter more than speed. They cover punctuated equilibrium and why AI is a "punctuation" in human history, why the technology has over-promised and under-delivered, the first companies taking humans out of the loop, sovereign AI and where the UK stands globally, the impact on training the next generation of clinicians, and the question almost nobody is asking: what kind of intelligence does medicine actually need? 📘 Shafi's book is available on Amazon in hardback, paperback and ebook: https://www.amazon.co.uk/INTELLIGENT-.... Chapters 00:00 — The economy of intelligence: who pays for AI? 01:11 — Why this book, why now: the weight of now 01:40 — Welcome & introduction 02:52 — Seven years and a scrapped draft: how the book came to be 06:27 — Writing for his children, and AI as legacy 08:56 — AI as a "punctuation" in human history 11:37 — From bullish futurist to a more measured view 12:30 — Over-promised, under-delivered: the radiology example 15:30 — Will we only automate bureaucracy? Ambient voice & low-hanging fruit 18:37 — Moving fast enough for regulators to accept AI 19:05 — Top-down vs bottom-up, and sovereign AI 22:23 — A global tour: Singapore, the Gulf, Canada and China 26:24 — Taking the human out of the loop 29:37 — Losing training opportunities for junior clinicians 33:56 — The real dangers of AI in healthcare 36:39 — Who pays for the revolution? The economy of intelligence 41:20 — Why now: the weight of now 43:18 — Closing #HealthTech #AIinHealthcare #DigitalHealth #NHS #FutureOfMedicine