NEJM AI Grand Rounds Medicine, Machines, and Magic: Dr. Jonathan Chen on Medical AI
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Oct 15, 2025 Dr. Jonathan Chen, a physician-informatician at Stanford, recounts his journey from teenage programmer to medical AI researcher. He discusses the thrilling yet unnerving advancements in machine learning, sharing insights from his cautionary essays to groundbreaking studies where GPT-4 outperformed doctors in diagnostics. Chen emphasizes the importance of empathy over memorization in clinical practice. He also explores the future of medical tasks, the role of AI, and addresses concerns about automation—while remaining optimistic about AI's potential to enhance patient care.
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Human+Computer Synergy Is Not Assured
- Human-plus-computer synergy is no longer guaranteed; sometimes computers outperform humans even when humans use them.
- This challenges the long-held 'fundamental theorem of informatics' about human–computer collaboration.
Started College At 13
- Jonathan started college at age 13 via Cal State LA's Early Entrance Program and skipped traditional high school.
- He later balanced interests in computers and medicine, which shaped his MD/PhD path.
Manage ML Hype To Avoid AI Winters
- Jonathan warned against hype in machine learning, arguing many claims exceed the tools' true capability.
- He advocated managing expectations to avoid repeating AI winter cycles that harm long-term progress.