AI, Ethics and Client Data: What Health Practitioners Get Wrong | HPI Team
Translating Nutrition: Clinical Nutrition, Sports Nutrition, & Health Coaching with Dr Cliff HarveySummary
The conversation centers on the ethical implications of technology use in health practices, particularly regarding software and AI. Dr. Cliff Harvey and his colleagues explore how practitioners often overlook the ethical dimensions of the tools they use, especially as AI technology becomes more prevalent. They emphasize the importance of understanding where data is stored and how it is used, highlighting concerns about privacy and the potential for misuse, especially in relation to sensitive client information.
The discussion also touches on the broader implications of supporting companies involved in controversial practices, such as military contracts or data surveillance. The hosts advocate for a more conscientious approach to software procurement, urging health practitioners to consider the ethical ramifications of their choices. They suggest that being aware of the companies behind the tools they use can help practitioners align their business practices with their values.
As the episode progresses, the hosts share personal experiences with AI, noting its benefits and limitations in clinical practice. They stress the necessity for practitioners to maintain a solid understanding of their field to effectively utilize AI tools without compromising client care. The conversation concludes with a call for practitioners to reflect on their ethical stance and how it informs their business decisions, encouraging a more intentional approach to technology use in health practices.
Show Notes
Most practitioners now use AI somewhere in their practice, but few have stopped to ask where their clients' data goes, who is training on it, or what their software subscriptions are funding. In this HPI team episode, Dr Cliff Harvey, Luke Gabites and Choong Kwan talk honestly about the ethics of the tech we buy, how they each use AI with clients, and the mistakes they see colleagues making.
In this episode we cover Why the rise of AI pushed tech ethics onto practitioners' radar "We are the product": what free tools really cost Where client data actually goes in apps, AI tools and cloud workspaces De-identification and other practical privacy safeguards for AI use How Cliff uses AI for differential assessment and peer review, without handing over his clinical reasoning Hallucinated studies, people-pleasing answers and built-in bias How HPI audited its suppliers and moved to a more ethical tech stack (and saved money doing it) Progress over perfection: building your own ethos for business decisions
Chapters 00:00 Intro 01:22 How AI put tech ethics on the radar 03:15 "We are the product": free tools and advertising 05:19 Client data in a world of vibe-coded apps 08:37 Privacy law, de-identification and where your data lives 11:43 Jurisdiction, subpoenas and European alternatives 13:45 HPI's procurement policy and why it started 16:06 Practitioners using free AI tools 17:59 AI as an extension of your brain 19:33 Data breaches and simple de-identification habits 23:00 AI makes good practitioners better and bad practitioners worse 28:06 If you build AI to replace you, it can 28:59 Hallucinations: invented studies and bad instructions 31:26 AI wants to please you: why you still need to study 33:41 How LLMs actually work, and their biases 36:28 Training data, IP and copyright 37:15 HPI's supplier audit and new tech stack 41:58 Progress over perfection 43:46 Finding your ethos and your big why 45:54 The Practitioner's Roadmap
About the hosts Dr Cliff Harvey is a clinical nutritionist, researcher and founder of the Holistic Performance Institute: https://www.holisticperformance.institute/ Luke Gabites is a Registered Clinical Nutritionist and Sports Nutritionist at Planted Nutrition in Auckland. Choong Kwan is a Registered Clinical Nutritionist, sports nutritionist and strength and conditioning coach based in Auckland. He helps time-poor parents and high performers build strong, healthy bodies without letting training and nutrition take over their lives. Find him at https://www.iamchoong.com/
Links mentioned in this episode NZ Privacy Commissioner guidance on AI: https://www.privacy.org.nz/resources-and-learning/a-z-topics/ai/ OpenAI data controls (turning off model training): https://help.openai.com/en/articles/7730893-data-controls-faq ManageMyHealth breach inquiry (1News): https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/05/27/managemyhealth-warned-before-massive-data-breach-inquiry/ HPI Vision for Equity (ethics and diversity policy): https://www.holisticperformance.institute/pages/ethics-and-diversity HPI's list of ethical providers: link coming soon!
Connect with HPI Roadmap: https://www.holisticperformance.institute/pages/roadmap Podcast page: https://www.holisticperformance.institute/pages/podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holisticperformancenutrition/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HolisticPerformanceNutrition/ LinkedIn: https://nz.linkedin.com/company/holistic-performance-institute YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@holisticperformance
Thinking about turning this into a career? Download the free Practitioner's Roadmap: what you can and can't do at each level of practice, the three career pathways, what practitioners charge in NZ and Australia, and which registration bodies recognise what. If you found this useful, follow Translating Nutrition and share it with a colleague who uses AI with clients.
More from Translating Nutrition: Clinical Nutrition, Sports Nutrition, & Health Coaching with Dr Cliff Harvey
Women are told to change their lifting, cardio, protein and even meal timing depending on their cycle phase. Dr Lauren Colenso-Semple has measured those hormones across many cycles in many women, and she has published some of the key research testing whether cycle phase changes how muscle responds to training. In this episode, she and Cliff look at what the evidence supports, what it doesn't, and why goal-led, individualised training beats a hormone calendar.
Social media says your morning coffee spikes cortisol, drives fat gain and wrecks your hormones. But most of those claims come from studies using doses of 3 to 6 mg of caffeine per kilo, or up to 800 mg in one hit. In this round table, Dr Cliff Harvey sits down with HPI nutritionists Luke Gabites and Choong Kwan to look at what the research actually shows, and how they use coffee/caffiene with their own clients.
Is there a safe dose of alcohol? Headlines say no. The biggest meta-analysis on alcohol and death says something more nuanced. Dr Cliff Harvey sits down with longtime collaborator Dr Mikki Williden to separate "no healthy dose" from "no safe dose", and to work out what a sensible, evidence-based drinking pattern looks like for people who enjoy the odd drink.
Plant-Based and Pragmatic: When Diet Meets Ethics | Luke Gabites Most diet arguments online come down to rules: you either eat this way perfectly or you are out. Registered Clinical Nutritionist Luke Gabites spent years as an ethical vegan, and he joins Dr Cliff Harvey to talk about what happens when strict rules meet real life, real bodies and real clients. Both have plant-based roots, both have become more pragmatic, and neither is anti-vegan.
Protein vs Fibre: Do You Have to Pick a Side? | Dr Carlene Starck Social media has turned protein and fibre into rival camps - one side says we are all under-eating protein, the other says we are wrecking our guts by skipping fibre. So who is right? Dr Cliff Harvey sits down with protein biochemist and nutrition scientist Dr Carlene Starck to weigh the evidence and work out what should actually go on your plate. In this episode we cover: What the fibre meta-analyses show, and why randomised trials of isolated fibre undercut the "it's just residual confounding" argument Why protein and fibre ended up pitted against each other Is fibre essential? What "non-essential" does and doesn't mean If you could only prioritise one, which would a protein scientist choose (and why) Protein vs fibre for satiety, and what a week on carnivore taught Carlene Why individual context, mental health and food culture matter more than dietary dogma Carlene's New Zealand and Australian research showing nutrient-dense diets can cost less A simple plate model, eating for colour, and the biggest myths about protein and fibre Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:12 The protein vs fibre debate 01:35 What the fibre research shows 11:29 Meet Dr Carlene Starck 12:31 From myostatin to protein misfolding 16:53 Why protein and fibre got pitted against each other 20:13 Is fibre essential? 27:06 Protein or fibre: if you had to pick one 31:32 Satiety: protein vs fibre 33:45 A week on carnivore 35:27 Diet, mental health and individual response 40:29 The "second stomach" and enjoying food 44:21 Food, culture and community 47:20 Why dietary dogma doesn't serve people 48:54 Ayurveda and individual constitutions 51:21 Can nutrient-dense eating cost less? 56:41 A simple plate model: palms, fists and colour 58:20 Is there a fibre-to-carb target? 1:01:19 The Hadza, and why oral health matters 1:04:18 Myth busting: protein 1:05:37 Myth busting: fibre 1:07:44 When fibre supplements make sense 1:10:47 Finding the diet that works for you 1:13:39 Cliff's key takeaways 1:15:34 The Practitioner's Roadmap About Dr Carlene Starck Dr Carlene Starck is a protein biochemist and nutrition scientist with more than 20 years in nutrition research, protein and amino acid metabolism, and science communication. She holds a PhD in biochemistry from Massey University and is affiliated with the Riddet Institute. Through Starck Science she helps food and nutrition brands turn rigorous protein science into clear strategy. Find Carlene: starckscience.com · Instagram · LinkedIn Research and links mentioned Starck et al. (2021). Nutrient dense, low-cost foods can improve the affordability and quality of the New Zealand diet. doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18157950 Blumfield et al. (2021). Diet and economic modelling to improve the quality and affordability of the Australian diet. doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115771 Blumfield et al. (2022). Should we 'eat a rainbow'? An umbrella review of colourful bioactive pigments. doi.org/10.3390/molecules27134061 Reynolds et al. (2019). Carbohydrate quality and human health, The Lancet. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31809-9 Holistic Performance Institute Free Practitioner's Roadmap: https://www.holisticperformance.institute/pages/roadmap Podcast page: https://www.holisticperformance.institute/pages/podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holisticperformancenutrition/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HolisticPerformanceNutrition/ LinkedIn: https://nz.linkedin.com/company/holistic-performance-institute YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@holisticperformance