AI Literacy for the Practitioner

Are You Driving Blind or Refusing the Ride?

It is not an option to simply opt out of AI; that concept is now impossible!

The rise of Artificial Intelligence is the most significant technological shift facing modern healthcare professionals. AI is a force that already impacts your clinic, your research, and your clients whether you like it or not.

Which mindset describes you?

• The Refuser: "I am never going to use AI, it is dangerous, unethical, and creates lazy practitioners."
• The Ostrich: "It is all moving too fast and it scares me. I am just going to ignore it and hope it goes away."
• The Overwhelmed: "I know I should learn it, but I am not 'techy' and I have no idea where to start."
• The Over-reliant: "AI is brilliant; I use it for everything already, like adjunct advice, diagnosis and to get ideas for formulations, so why do I need training?"
• The Traditionalist: "My practice is holistic and human-centric. Technology has no place in my healing space."

Here is the reality check: You can refuse to use AI as much as you want, but your patients will not. Furthermore, you are already using it so long as you use the internet, it is unavoidable. Whether you already use it or not, it is ultimately your responsibility to be informed enough about AI to keep both your practice and your patients safe.

We are entering the era of "Dr. AI." Many of your clients are already self-diagnosing using Large Language Models (LLMs) before they ever step foot in your clinic. If you are not equipped with AI literacy, how will you effectively guide them? How will you spot the hallucinations in the "research" they bring you? How will you correct the misinformation they have received from a chatbot without understanding how that bot was trained?

On the other hand, you might already be over-reliant. Are you finding yourself turning to ChatGPT often for menial tasks or questions? For creating adjunct advice or diagnosis with little of your own input?

Like driving a car, you can refuse the journey, but you will be left behind. You can drive without a licence, but the danger is immense. To practise safely and effectively in the AI era, literacy is mandatory.

This intensive, two-part workshop, led by Medical Herbalist Luke Ó hErodáin, who brings deep insight from his previous career in the technology sector, moves beyond the hype and fear to deliver the practical, ethical training you need right now.

Part 1: The Basics – Understanding Your Tool and The Pitfalls

This is the essential Theory Test for the AI age. Before you use any tool, you must understand its fundamental structure and its most dangerous flaws.

You will learn to:

• Demystify AI: Understand what a Language Model is (and why it is not "True AI"), moving past the science fiction to the practical reality.
• Identify the Core Flaws: Immediately spot and neutralise the three critical dangers of general LLMs: Hallucination, Sycophancy, and Regurgitation (AI Slop).
• Establish Ethical and Legal Guardrails: Master the essential concepts of PHI Risk, Informed Consent, and Special Category Data (GDPR/DPA/HIPAA) to ensure all tools you use comply with patient confidentiality.
• Confront "Dr. AI": Learn how to manage the patient who arrives with AI-generated diagnoses. You will learn to verify their data, correct misinformation, and integrate their findings safely into your clinical workflow.

Part 2: The Practicalities – Tools, Integration, and the Future

This is your Practical Driving Test, focusing on real-world tools and safe, ethical and effective integration into your professional workflow.

You will learn to:

• Build Your Practitioner’s Toolkit: Distinguish between general LLMs (like Gemini and ChatGPT) and specialised, secure AI tools. Learn the "DOs and DON'Ts" for enhanced safety.
• Securely Analyse Your Notes: Discover tools for secure analysis of your private clinic notes and specialised platforms for evidence-based research.
• Master AI Integration Case Studies: See practical, proven examples of integrating AI into your workflow to streamline research, drafting, and practice management without compromising patient care.
• Maintain Clinical Integrity: Establish protocols to prevent automation bias and maintain your irreplaceable human judgement, intuition, and knowledge of energetics when utilising AI-generated information.

The AI Literacy Mandate

AI is here to stay. Work with it, not for it.

This course is for the complete Luddite, the over-confident adopter, and anyone in between. By the end of this course, you will not just know about AI; you will be equipped to use it confidently, ethically, and strategically to become a more efficient and better-informed practitioner.

"Humans using AI will replace humans who do not."

Do not get replaced. Get Literate.

About Luke

Luke Ó hErodáin Dip Herb Med

Medical Herbalist, Ethnobotanist, Foraging Instructor & Digital Educator

Luke Ó hErodáin is a qualified Medical Herbalist and ethnobotanist from Ireland with a background in clinical herbal medicine, education, and digital innovation. Drawing from his clinical herbal experience and a decade of experience in the digital media and technology industry, he explores how artificial intelligencecan be used meaningfully, ethically, and safely within herbal practice, education, and research.

Luke is involved in the digital infrastructure of the Herbal Alliance and previously served as Editor of The Herbal Eye. He is also an organiser of Ireland’s annual herbalist gathering, HerbFeast. His current research focuses on the early to mid-20th-century French Eclectic physicians who championed modern herbal medicine, brought forth lots of research yet to be seen in english-speaking spheres and who first coined the term phytotherapy.