Dr Chris Dietz: Should AI Scribes be Regulated as Medical Devices?

Wednesday, 10 June 2026, 12pm to 1pm

“Dr Chris Dietz: Should AI Scribes be Regulated as Medical Devices?"
 
This special collaborative session between the International AI in Primary Care Special Interest Group, and the Social Theory Group at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, welcomes guest author, Dr Chris Dietz from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, to join us to discuss his work on the ethical and legal issues of using AI scribes in primary healthcare.

Dr Dietz is a socio-legal scholar interested in the intersection of health justice, technology, and embodiment. His research focuses on how trust in health systems is affected by law, particularly when it involves priority populations. He has a longstanding interest in trans health services and, more recently, has been moving into the ethics of using medical technologies with patients.
  
This will be a HYBRID session to enable international colleagues to join. We encourage in-person attendance from those in Oxford, as Chris will be visiting the department. Francesca Dakin is chairing the session.

 
Should AI scribes be regulated as medical devices?
 
Authors
 
Chris Dietz (UNSW Sydney) and Alexandra Sinclair (University of Sydney)
 
Abstract
 
Digital transcription software products marketed as ‘AI scribes’ are among the latest technologies to enter the medical field. Combining ambient speech recognition, natural language processing, and large language models, scribes automatically populate health records. Outside the UK, they tend not to be regulated as medical devices – even though they increasingly suggest diagnoses and treatment plans. Scribes have been touted as a solution to pressures on clinician time, with the CEO of the company behind one of over 100 scribes on the market boasting: ‘In a world where doctors are crying out for help, Heidi is delivering […]’. Yet questions should be asked about the suitability of these technologies for healthcare settings. Doctors cannot access the information needed to evaluate the efficacy of these models or whether patient data is being stored in compliant ways. This casts doubt upon how informed patient consent to transcription can be. There are equity implications for disadvantaged patients, as AI systematically downplays the symptoms of women and minorities. By comparing how scribes sit within legal frameworks in Australia, the UK, and the EU, this article charts the ethical and legal issues that arise. It also informs key debates about how scribes ought to be regulated.

Calendar invite attached.
 
Venue: Gibson 1st Floor Meeting Room 1(at the top of the stairs) on Wednesday 10th June 12:00pm - 1.15pm
Teams: https://teams.microsoft.com/[…]/310150916680488?p=niAVikMWWYWrEZJeqz
Meeting ID: 310 150 916 680 488
Passcode: QL6rt7JY

All the best,
Francesca

Dr Francesca H. Dakin, M.Phil, D.Phil
Senior Researcher in Digital Health, NDPCHS, University of Oxford
Mildred Blaxter Fellow, NDPCHS, University of Oxford
Junior Research Fellow, St Anne’s College/ The Centre for Personalised Medicine
Visiting Fellow, Centre for Health Informatics, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University

Department: Primary Care Health Sciences (Department)

Host: Dr Francesca Dakin

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