Big Brother in the consulting room: should doctors tell patients when they are using AI to record them? A conversation with Associate Professor Megan Prictor

Melbourne Law School and host Jon Faine bring you Justice: a weekly podcast about the law behind the news.

AI is now listening in in the doctor’s clinic, with products known as ‘AI scribes’ increasingly being used to draft patients’ medical records. This might save doctors time and reduce burnout. But what are the legal implications of this new practice? Are regulators doing enough to make sure AI scribes are safe and fit for purpose?

In this episode we hear from Associate Professor Megan Prictor, Co-Director of the Health, Law and Emerging Technologies (HeLex) research centre at Melbourne Law School. Megan has published widely including on dynamic consent, medical consultation recording, data breach notification laws and privacy and confidentiality in healthcare.

Read more on AI scribes in healthcare: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-07/ai-scribes-gps-and-hospitals-accuracy-data-breach-risk/105490478 https://theconversation.com/some-clinicians-are-using-ai-to-write-health-records-what-do-you-need-to-know-237762 https://theconversation.com/can-you-say-no-to-your-doctor-using-an-ai-scribe-264701

Justice is a podcast of Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples as the Traditional Owners of the unceded land on which we record, publish, work, learn and live.