AI: AI-Scribes: Why you should refuse to let your doctor record you

[Debra Turnbull]

A PAN colleague sent this article: Why you should refuse to let your doctor record you, by Emily M Bender and Decca Muldowney (accessed May 14,2026). Though this is a reflection around the American healthcare system (mention of Kaiser - which I assume is Kaiser Permanente: a US Health Insurance co.), the points made also apply to Canada's healthcare system.

AI Scribes are being deployed in doctor's offices and clinics up here too. You will be asked to consent to the use of an AI Scribe. You can say: "no". You have the right to say: "no" and not have it impact your care. If you are concerned about this - ask your doctor: "How will this impact my care?" Pay attention to the answer.

Things to know about AI-Scribes
These things are voice-recording your conversation. There is a microphone somewhere (in a laptop or phone). From the recording it will produce a transcript - text of the conversation. Some AI-Scribes stop there. It will be up to your doctor to review the transcript for errors (yes, these things are known to generate errors), and correct, copy & paste text into your electronic medical record (or chart). It is up to your doctor to delete the transcript and voice-recording.

Other AI-Scribes go beyond producing a transcript. Some automatically enter the text into your chart - including the errors. Some will fill out forms and email them. All without the oversight of the doctors or admin assistants. This is troubling. There has already been a report to a Privacy Commissioner on a breach due to an AI-Scribe.

The nine points raised in the article are items that apply to the Canadian healthcare system as well.

[Debra Turnbull]

@Debra-Turnbull
Mayo Clinic and Ambient Listening

I found this easier to read article. This appears to be gaining traction in the media.

The Mayo Clinic is a well respected American research hospital. There are still problems with patient consent.

[Jenna Kedy 0]

@Debra-Turnbull Conversations about AI scribes are REALLY interesting to me from both a patient and healthcare advocacy perspective! My own family doctor actually uses one, so this isn’t something I’m looking at from the outside and honestly I have mixed feelings, which I think is okay. On one hand, I completely understand why doctors are using these tools. Our healthcare system is overwhelmed. Providers are drowning in documentation. If technology can help reduce some of that burden and allow doctors to spend more time actually making eye contact with patients like me instead of typing nonstop during appointments; I can absolutely see the appeal. As a patient, I’ve also noticed that sometimes it can make conversations flow more naturally because the provider isn’t glued to a keyboard the whole appointment BUT I also think patients like me deserve way more transparency about what these systems actually do. A lot of people don’t realize AI scribes may record conversations and if you’ve spent years navigating healthcare systems like I have, you know how much ONE incorrect note can impact future care. A wrong sentence in a chart can follow you for years. Patients deserve to know “Where is this recording stored?” And if they can say no as they absolutely have the right too! I don’t think the answer is “AI is evil” I think the real conversation is about trust and making sure technology supports human-centered care instead of quietly replacing oversight. At the end of the day, after spending my life as both “the patient” and now working in healthcare advocacy spaces, my biggest thing is that patients like me deserve choic and we should never feel dramatic for asking questions about our own healthcare information!

[Debra Turnbull]

@Jenna-Kedy-0

Very well articlulated points.

I have yet to see what transparency will look like for these systems. They are being blindly deployed in order to alleviate clinician pressure. The error-detection piece is still missing.

I honestly did not see the lack-of-informed-consent as being a problem, seeing as I had not experienced that. The more that I learn about these things, the more convinced I become about saying "no" the next time that I am asked to consent.