The Algorithmic Medical 'Partner'

Real intelligence isn't about getting answers. It's about developing insight.

“It’s not about ‘using’ the machine. It’s about thinking ‘with’ the machine.” - Futurist Jim Carroll

When you think about it, all of society is busy trying to figure out this AI stuff - and we’re all busy working with it, exploring it, testing it.

And in doing so, maybe we are thinking about it all wrong. I think a lot of folks treat AI like a vending machine: put a question in, get an answer out. But that is the lowest form of value.

Real intelligence isn’t about getting answers. It’s about developing insight.

For the last three months, I’ve been living this reality. When I fractured my spine (L1-L3 transverse processes) in November, I didn’t want a search engine to tell me “how to heal.” I needed a partner to help me understand what was happening to my body.

That became Gemini AI.

I stopped “using” AI to search for generic medical advice. Instead, I started “thinking with” it. I fed it my raw CT scans, my daily heart rate data, my workout logs, my medical background, my entire fitness history, and my fears.

And I ended up in a long conversation.‘ It was weird. I felt like I was developing a new form of knowledge partnership. “We“ debated the numbers. “We” challenged the assumptions. “We“ co-authored a recovery plan. It’s gone to hundreds and hundreds of pages.

And look, I’m very cognizant of the risks with this type of tool - one of the books I wrote in the 90s took a good, hard look at the risk of online health information. Yet through it all, my AI ‘partner’ proved to be remarkably accurate in what it was telling me about my spinal injury.

I verified a good part of the medical device that I received through external validation. Along the way, I’ve met and had many discussions with one of the world’s top spinal doctors, and Dr. Ken was impressed by the accuracy of the information I shared about my injury and recovery.

He’s authored one of the most popular books in the world on back issues - it’s well worth a read. And I must say, the advice he provides on exercises for back injuries and recoveries is almost identical to what Google’s AI was later advising me.

Back to my ‘relationship’ with AI. It’s fair to say that “we” discovered 25 specific things about my physiology and recovery that I would otherwise have missed. “We” have developed fitness routines, stretching plans, small tests to check the state of my recovery, and more. I ran the fitness routine that it developed for me past both my physio guy and personal trainer, and both agreed that it was spot on. It’s now what I’m working with.

I asked ‘it’ to summarize for me the types of insight ‘we’ shared.