🎓 Hippocrates Meets AI 🌐
EPISODE #3: “I know that I know nothing”
⏪️ In the previous episode, we discussed why “doing nothing” can sometimes be the most appropriate decision.
➡️ Today, we will focus on the most difficult words that a doctor can say.
🧔♂️ Nick is 42 years old. He is visiting a doctor for the 3rd time over the past few months.
“I’m constantly tired. I can’t work, I can’t play with my kids. Something isn’t right—I can feel it.”
All tests are normal.
Previous doctors attributed it to stress, age, lack of sleep, and excessive workload.
He is not convinced; he is searching and waiting for an answer.
This time, the doctor decides to follow a different approach:
“I don’t know what you have.
But I believe you when you say something isn’t right. And that means we need to look deeper.
We will also need help from doctors of other specialties, who know things that I don’t know.”
👩🦰 Mrs. Maria is 58 years old and is facing a health issue related to the liver. She asks a third opinion, because previous doctors proveded conflicting recommendations.
Doctor A: “I recommend initiating treatment immediately. Treatment efficacy will also confirm the diagnosis.”
Doctor B: “Let’s wait and repeat the tests in a few months. Further exams will be needed before we even think about treatment.”
The doctor’s position is now even more difficult.
“I don’t know who is ‘right,’ or whether there is a single ‘correct’ approach for your case.
Let’s analyze together these two different approaches, their benefits, their risks, and what worries you most. Afterwards, you will decide.”
✅ Nick underwent more specialized testing and was diagnosed with a rare hormonal disorder. He received treatment and achieved complete recovery.
Six months later:
“Doctor, your ‘I don’t know’ approach may be what saved me.”
ℹ️ One year later, with her liver condition in remission, Mrs. Maria visits the third doctor with whom she continued her care:
“When you told me ‘I don’t know,’ at first I was scared and felt you might confuse me even more. Then I realized that your approach, the respect you showed me, and the right you gave me to choose actually strengthened my confidence.”
🤔💭 I think about these two stories and ask an AI program:
“What would you answer if a patient asked you something you don’t know?”
—“Based on my data, the most likely diagnosis is…”
⚠️ Not saying “I don’t know” when you have doubts, or giving answers even when you shouldn’t, is a problem. False certainty can be dangerous. Statistics tell us what happens to thousands of people—not necessarily what will happen to the person in front of us.
👨⚕️ A doctor has the privilege—and the obligation—to say “I don’t know.”
And that makes them wiser than any algorithm.
📜 “I know that I know nothing” — attributed to Socrates.
In Greek : “Ξέρω ένα πράγμα: ότι δεν ξέρω τίποτα.”
‼️ There is a big difference between knowing nothing and knowing that you don’t know.
Socrates taught us that recognizing the limits of your knowledge makes you wiser.
🗣️🫣 In Medicine, we are pressured to give answers—always, immediately.
Patients expect answers.
The system demands answers (a few minutes per patient—give a diagnosis, next).
The era of artificial intelligence provides an answer to anything and abundant information about everything.
🔍 So we give answers—even when we are not sure. Saying “I don’t know” feels like failure.
👉 But it isn’t.
“I don’t know” can indicate wisdom, not weakness.
💎 Thousands of years after Socrates, only if you recognize when you don’t know—and have the courage to say it—you are able to:
Search for the truth (instead of sticking to a wrong diagnosis)
Ask for help (instead of pretending you know)
Respect every patient and follow the approach of shared-decision making (instead of imposing the “right” decision)
📣 In the next episode:
Can the body heal itself better than medications if we give it the chance?