A woman was told she had demyelination, nerve damage linked to multiple sclerosis, after an AI tool at her appointment misread "null demyelination" from her MRI.
The error had already entered her record before she caught it.
The case is one of several flagged by Healthwatch England, the NHS patient watchdog, in a warning about ambient AI scribes.
These tools record and summarize a consultation as it happens, then draft a note the doctor edits and signs.
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An AI scribe also swapped a prescribed drug for a different one with a similar name, spotted by the patient rather than the doctor. In a separate case a summary letter left out a specialist's instruction to seek a repeat migraine prescription.
"This was eventually corrected but was a very traumatising experience to be given an incorrect diagnosis because of AI and then be told it's a typo," one affected patient, an NHS health professional herself, told the watchdog according to The Guardian.
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said the findings expose a communication gap. "Trust and confidence in this technology depend on good communication and genuine partnership with patients and right now both are missing," she said to The Guardian.
A Healthwatch survey published in July 2026 found nearly 90 percent of patients with a recent appointment were unaware AI scribing was being used.
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Eighty-one percent said they want to be told and asked for consent.
What patients can do at their next appointment
Patients can ask whether an AI scribe is being used before a consultation starts.
Healthwatch says clinicians should tell patients up front and be prepared to turn the tool off for sensitive topics such as mental health or sexual health.
The more useful check is after the visit.
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Most US health systems push a written after-visit summary or clinical note into the patient portal within a day or two.
Reading through the medication list, recorded diagnoses and follow-up instructions against what was said in the room is where a wrong drug name or mistaken diagnosis can still be caught.
Anything that does not match should be flagged to the practice for correction.
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This article is made and published by Ida-Marie Palm Varbæk, who may have used AI in the preparation.