Why family doctors across Canada are turning to AI scribes and what it means for patients [Video]

This story is part of CBC Health’s Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.

Dr. Will Stymiest, a family physician in Fredericton, noticed a big change in a fellow doctor a few months ago: He almost always left the office first.

“Since he started using the AI tool, he was leaving before me almost every day,” Stymiest said, referring to new software that’s used to transcribe and summarize conversations between clinicians and patients. “There’s a little bit of jealousy there. This clearly is making a difference for him. Maybe it could make a difference for me, too.”

A week into trying out the same AI scribe tool himself, Stymiest said he was won over.

“I’ve three small kids [to do] two daycare pickups on the way home, so I have …