A Free Short Book: Human Judgment in an AI World

I wanted the five public TEDx talks in one place you can keep. Not as transcripts, and not as a recap you have to watch all over again. As a short book you can read, mark up, and share.

That book is live. The title is Human Judgment in an AI World. The subtitle is "Five questions a physician keeps asking about AI and care." It is 44 pages. It is a free edition, and the web edition is dated November 2026.

You can read it online, or download the PDF or the EPUB, at no charge. There is no Kindle file. Please share the whole file, unchanged. It is not for sale.

I wrote it as an independent companion to five talks I gave between 2024 and 2025 at TEDxWarrenton, TEDxPurdueU, TEDxBabsonCollege, TEDxAWC, and TEDxSouthlake. It is not an official TED or TEDx publication. Each chapter links to the official recording so you can hear what I said on stage. Those five recordings run about 71 minutes in all.

The sixth talk, at TEDxFactoria on November 8, 2026, in Bellevue, Washington, is not a chapter in this edition. The title of that talk is "The Pause Is the Safety Feature." The video will go up after TEDx approval.

Five questions to take into a meeting

The book is built around five questions I want in the room before a tool touches care:

1. Time. Where could a tool give time back, and who decides that the time goes to people?
2. Perception. What is this tool showing me that I can't confirm myself, and how was that checked?
3. Prevention. What harm could be caught earlier, and who owns the next step?
4. Warning. When an early signal arrives, what happens in the first week, and who explains it?
5. Reach. Who does this bring care closer to, and whose data is missing?

If you take one thing from it, take one of those questions to your next staff meeting, vendor demonstration, or appointment. Ask it out loud. Then listen to what comes back, including the silence.

Worksheets, talks, and the Field Guide

The back of the book has worksheets, including "One tool, five questions," plus SAFE and CARE checks and a sense check for a new tool. The exercises use fictional, nonmedical examples on purpose, so you can try them without anyone's health information.

If you want the action sheets that sit next to the talks, and a map of the six delivered talks, open the TEDx Field Guide. The talks themselves are also collected on my site at TEDx talks on healthcare and AI.

This is educational writing. It does not diagnose, treat, or replace care from a clinician who knows you. Mentioning a tool is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the tool is cleared, available, or right for you.

If you are booking a healthcare AI keynote and want the same thread in the room, start at the speaker page. And if you only have time for one click today, start with the book: Human Judgment in an AI World.