When 936 ABC Hobart producer Grier Brindley had a couple of days off work with a cold, she did what many people do and used a telehealth service to get a medical certificate for her leave. She made the appointment online and then received a call from the company for a quick medical consult. But she never spoke to a real human. The whole consultation was conducted by AI.Dr Meg Creeley is a GP and president of the Australian Medical Association in Tasmania and she tells Kylie Baxter on Hobart Drive this is the first time she's heard of a medical consult being completely conducted by AI."I think Grier's example highlights the dangers," she says."Certainly the medical board has been really clear on this one, that that's not a meaningful nor an acceptable doctor-patient consultation if you're not actually speaking to or seeing the patient themselves."CreditsKylie Baxter, PresenterGrier Brindley, ProducerImage DetailsA telehealth company is running AI consultations where the doctor isn't a part of the conversation to assess basic patient requests such as gaining a medical certificate.(ABC News: Stephan Hammat/Adobe Stock)Program:More from Hobart DriveHobart, Medical EthicsTranscriptMeg CreeleyFrom an AMA perspective, we really do support technology that makes healthcare more accessible and efficient, but there really, as you've sort of already highlighted, there really is a fundamental difference between AI helping a doctor in the, you know, be it the paperwork and the efficiency component versus an AI bot being the only thing that a patient actually speaks to.Kylie BaxterAnd how is the use of AI being expanded? You must be watching on a daily, weekly basis going, wow, you know, the world's changing.Meg CreeleyIsn't it? And I don't think healthcare is unique. It seems to be changing everywhere. Even my grocery list is changing these days. But look, so the most common thing we see is the use of AI scribes. That's really, really taken off. And I do use it with obvious permission with a few sort of, a few guardrails around it. I really actually like, so anyone who's been to say, I'm a GP, but anyone who's been to the GP probably remembers where we're furiously trying to type and capture everything that people say, but also look at people and have an actual conversation. So the AI scribes I do find allows me to sit there and look at a person and have a conversation without having to furiously type away on my computer. So that aspect I really like, but I think it's also then making sure that where we're using AI in healthcare, it is helping with some of those things that you don't need perhaps a doctor's brain for, and also making sure that those guardrails, making sure that information is accurate. It's always checked by a human. There's ways to do it, but we have to do it safely.Kylie BaxterBut what about the dangers?Meg CreeleyYeah, so I think Greir's example highlights the dangers. So in an unregulated environment, we've seen this sort of with telehealth to a degree. So I think telehealth has many real benefits that we can use to deliver healthcare to people. But we have seen some areas of telehealth crop up where there isn't that interaction with the clinician. And certainly the medical board has been really clear on this one, that that's not a meaningful nor an acceptable doctor-patient consultation if you're not actually speaking to or seeing the patient themselves. Appears In DriveDuration: 1 hour 54 minutes 59 seconds1h 54m1itemsIn this episode1 of 1PlayingThe AI doctor will see you nowDuration: 2 minutes 16 seconds2m 16sDoctor forced to apologise after AI makes 'scary' error about illegal drugs