North of Patient Puneet Seth

Loneliness in the elderly, why we don't play chess with AI and what digital memories can teach us about ourselves

Welcome to the North of Patient podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world.

For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠blog post⁠ on North of Patient:
https://open.substack.com/pub/puneetseth/p/episode-4-david-usher-reimagining

and subscribe to ⁠North of Patient on Substack⁠:
https://puneetseth.substack.com/

This week’s episode features music legend and creative AI visionary, David Usher. David is an artist, best-selling author and entrepreneur. As a musician, he has sold more than 1.4 million albums, won 5 Junos and has had #1 singles singing in English, French, and Thai. He is also the CEO and founder of Reimagine AI, an artificial intelligence company building AI-powered virtual beings and virtual being technology in entertainment, retail and healthcare. David has a degree in political science from Simon Fraser University and his book on creativity and innovation, Let the Elephants Run • Unlock Your Creativity and Change Everything, is out now.

As you can expect, this was an animated conversation touching on many subjects. We talk about augmented reality, Apple Vision Pro and creating our digital representations, and in fact what it would be like to interact with the memories and likeness of our loved ones, as David created with his LucyAI collaboration. We talk about the generative AI gold rush, what we can learn from our mistakes in social media and how to steer our efforts towards positive outcomes. And of course, we talk about Reimagine AI and David’s personal story for wanting to tackle isolation and loneliness in the elderly.

Key stamps from our conversation are below:

00:21 Intro Monologue - David Usher
02:16 Transitioning from music to entrepreneurship
06:19 ReimagineAI
08:58 Loneliness in the elderly
11:42 Drawing lines between digital and human being
13:20 Empathy in AI vs humans
16:33 AGI and human abilities
18:53 Looking at change from micro and macro perspective
24:11 On social media
26:20 Can human imagination help us navigate what's next?
27:26 Lucy AI
30:39 Exploring what it means to be a person
32:23 On Apple Vision Pro and memories
37:24 How LLMs will influence how we see the world
41:14 Why we only want to play chess with humans

The perils of assumptions, when a film takes flight and bringing patients into the clinical classroom

Welcome to the North of Patient podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world.

For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠blog post⁠ on North of Patient

and subscribe to ⁠North of Patient on Substack⁠.

I had a wonderful conversation with Teri Price. In the more than 10 years since her brother Greg's death due to cracks in the functioning of the healthcare system, Teri Price has been advocating for change in #healthcare.  She is currently the Executive Director of Greg’s Wings Projects, a not-for-profit organization created to honour Greg. The first project developed by Greg’s Wings was the Falling Through the Cracks: Greg’s Story film and they have done more than 600 screenings of the film.

Teri and I have been guest co-facilitators of a lecture series at the University of Toronto School of Medicine for several years, where we discuss the importance of collaboration and systems in ensuring #patientsafety to students entering #clerkship

0:00 Episode 3 - Teri Price - North of Patient

03:02 What is Greg's Wings?
09:00 Bringing patients into the clinical classroom
12:36 The film doing better than was expected
16:24 Comparing European and Canadian health systems
19:35 Ambient scribes
24:53 Safety is paramount
30:00 Blind trust and assumptions
37:04 On the evolving role of healthcare professionals
40:05 Patients, data sharing and financial benefit
45:34 Change as a skillset and mindset
47:34 Changes to medical education

More about Teri:

Greg's Wings Projects: https://gregswings.ca
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/greg-s-wings-projects/
X: https://twitter.com/gregswings
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gregswings/

PatientsLikeMe, the limitations of reductionism in Western medicine and how sharing augments healing

Welcome to the North of Patient podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world.

For a summary of the episode, visit the blog post on North of Patient and subscribe to North of Patient on Substack.

Today’s guest is Benjamin Heywood. Ben is General Partner in the early stage deep tech and digital health focused venture fund SkyRiver Ventures. He prides himself on being a tech geek, mentor, and investor. He is a recovering entrepreneur after co-founding PatientsLikeMe in 2004. He is a proud #GirlDad and hails from the Boston area.

In our conversation, we chat about what it was like to start and lead PatientsLikeMe in their 15 year journey, the power of sharing in the healing process, what he has learned about secrets of success in healthcare innovation, and of course, what he sees in store for the future.

Outline:

02:17 The story behind "PatientsLikeMe"
09:58 What engineering and farming have in common
11:59 They said we were crazy
14:25 What medicine is missing today
17:11 Convergence of Western and Eastern medicine
20:50 Life after PatientsLikeMe
24:01 Exploring deep tech and optimism
25:38 Top areas of healthcare investment in Boston
30:30 Role of the hospital in care delivery
31:59 My recent run in with acute care and a shout out to SickKids Hospital
33:31 What it's like to get healthcare in Boston today
41:02 While traditional healthcare be able to go along for the ride as innovation accelerates
46:51 What does Ben think the healthcare system will look like in the next 3-5 years?
50:56 Role of patient care communities

More about Ben:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminheywood/

https://twitter.com/bheywood

Welcome to the inaugural episode of the North of Patient podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world.

My first guest is Julian Bleecker. Julian is a leading researcher, designer, and entrepreneur in the fields of technology and innovation. He founded Near Future Laboratory and OMATA, and is the originator of the concept of Design Fiction. Bleecker has published extensively on design, technology, and the future, and his book "The Manual of Design Fiction" is widely recognized as a pioneering work on the subject.

Needless to say, it’s incredibly exciting to have him help open this podcast series, where we explore the concept of design fiction, how people can practically learn to think more deeply about the future, and various lessons for the healthcare system in embracing imaginative thinking.

If you’re interested in learning more about Julian’s work, check out the following:

https://nearfuturelaboratory.com

https://julianbleecker.com



You can visit the North of Patient blog on Substack for episode summaries and additional conversations the future of healthcare.



(And a thank you to Svaneborg Kardyb for allowing the sampling of their magical track, "Orbit")