When it comes to academically treating something as controversial as Artificial Intelligence, especially when applied to something as intimate as personal health, nothing is more refreshing or productive than the kind of thoughtfulness, balance, and humility that Carisa Carlton brings to this emotive subject in her brilliant book, The Future Of Healing: Artificial Intelligence & Healthcare.

These qualities are front and center right from the start:

• I’ve come to understand that the future of healthcare will be as much about our hearts and minds as it is about technology.
• The future of healthcare may indeed be more automated, but its success will ultimately depend on ensuring that AI serves as a tool to enhance, rather than replace, the essential human element of healing.

This should defuse the gut-reactive opinions likely to erupt in response to the provocative title. Rest assured, the remainder of the book is even more balanced, thoughtful, and informative. One of the most fascinating, surprising, and downright unexpected chapters is the author’s candid and revealing personal experience with ChatGPT as a therapist and life coach. Society today makes changing another’s mind seem like a superpower; if so, say hello to AI’s first superhero. Still, the exchange is not without some balancing elements and humor:

           “ChatGPT suggested I write him a letter telling him to get lost. Wait—what?”

The most cogent observation about this remarkable book is conveyed by the words “comprehensive” and “inclusive.” The information discussed in its exceptionally well-organized chapters runs the gamut from the most tangible, e.g., financial costs and considerations, to the most intangible (maybe more important), e.g., generational perspectives, traditional standards, contemporary exigencies, and psychological adaptiveness. If it applies, it’s covered here.