by Barry P Chaiken, MD |
July 4, 2025 |

The Cost of Truth: A July 4 Reflection

by | Jul 4, 2025 | Artificial Intelligence, Healthcare Policy

This Independence Day reflection explores how civic duty and medical ethics intersect in the age of AI. Watch the full video and read the essay below.

On Independence Day, we honor service, sacrifice, and the enduring values that define our democracy. For many of us, these values are not abstract ideals—they are woven into our personal histories.

My grandfather fled tyranny in Eastern Europe and earned his U.S. citizenship by fighting in World War I. My father volunteered as a medic in World War II. Both served not because they were asked to—but because they believed in something larger than themselves.

Their legacy reminds me that freedom is not simply granted. It is protected every day through acts of integrity, truth-telling, and responsibility.

Today, in the age of artificial intelligence, we face a different kind of struggle: a battle for truth.

Healthcare AI offers profound potential. But alongside its power, it brings new risks—hallucinated outputs, misinformation at scale, and systems that may unintentionally erode the trust at the heart of the patient-physician relationship.

As leaders, clinicians, and innovators, our duty is clear: to build systems that serve people, honor science, and uphold the public trust. That work requires vigilance—not only technical vigilance, but ethical vigilance.

This short video is a personal reflection on that responsibility—one shaped by family, by medicine, and by the promise of technology to serve humanity rather than manipulate it.

On this Independence Day, I invite you to pause and consider: What are we doing—not just to innovate—but to protect the truth?

Thank you for being part of this journey.

 

Barry P. Chaiken, MD, MPH

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