A mental health care business, 34 years in, over 100 staff, and too much of it still depends on one man. Andy Barlow wants to be wanted, not needed. Andy is director of Barlow Care Group. It started in 1992 with his mum, and the first person it supported was a man nobody else would take. He talks Ben and Alex through how he got here, then the practical bit. The system Ben is building so 100 staff can ask it instead of Andy, what to do about health data, the prompt that makes AI tell you what it couldn't do, stopping while it's flowing rather than when you're stuck, and why it all comes down to getting the foundations in first. 00:00 Meet Andy Barlow, the show's first guest01:49 Reading, writing and the class clown04:07 Andy's story: anything to get away from the feeling08:35 Hitting the brink: the gift of desperation13:23 1992: a carer who knew she could do it better17:44 The one man nobody else would take22:15 Four applicants to 96, just by testing newspaper ads24:19 Taking over from mum, and a nursing course to see inside31:20 The human side is still the most important bit33:31 Craft at the start, the machine in the middle, craft at the end36:55 Wanted, not needed37:35 Who supports the support workers42:28 Why Ben built his own operating system44:01 Eight things at a time, not 6744:39 Health data, privacy and the way round it45:33 Talk to me as a human, ask the system the rest46:56 YouTube clips, an academy, an app: what Andy looked at first50:03 A hundred goes if that's what it takes52:29 ChatGPT or Claude doesn't matter. Context does54:05 No diagnosis, a lot of the symptoms54:48 When AI doesn't sound like you, that's not a tech problem56:55 The fantasy and reality loop, and where most people quit57:46 Make it tell you what it couldn't do59:38 The expensive failure, and asking a better question1:03:10 Stop while it's flowing, not when you're stuck1:04:13 Talking the business out of your head with Wispr Flow1:05:42 Responsibility without authority, and finding the handovers1:07:29 Retrieval, and a call straight into a quote1:10:37 Turning a care group into a brain1:11:27 Have a play, then get someone who does it for a living1:14:34 The builder, the live wires and the foundations Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Fn6MVVSfXq0Barlow Care Group: https://www.barlowcaregroup.comEvery episode: https://artificialattention.co.ukInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/artificialattentionpodcast/Ben: https://www.instagram.com/benhawksworth_/Alex: https://www.instagram.com/awmedia.marketing/ Ben has ADHD and ASD. Alex has ADHD and dyslexia. Ben and Alex are not clinicians, everyone here is talking from their own experience, and nothing in this episode is medical advice. This episode talks openly about addiction, from 04:07. If any of that is close to home, Samaritans are free and open 24 hours a day on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland.
