Demystifying AI in public healthcare

Earlier this year, 4OC worked with Ireland’s NHS equivalent, the Health Service Executive (HSE), to run an AI masterclass aimed at building understanding, confidence and curiosity across frontline and management teams. With artificial intelligence dominating public debate, the session created space for people to step back from the hype, ask questions, and think about what AI might actually mean in practice for their work.

The HSE, like many public sector organisations, is exploring how new technologies can support delivery, streamline processes and, ultimately, ensure better health outcomes for patients. The exploration of AI as a tool to help do this has felt both exciting and daunting, feelings we think are common across this subject matter. Our aim was to bring clarity, to help participants get a better grasp of what AI really is, how it works, and where it might add value to their daily working lives.

Working in partnership with Andrew Burgess, a respected AI strategist and author of The Executive Guide to Artificial Intelligence, we designed a session that moved from plain-English explanations of key concepts to real, practical use cases. We looked at generative tools like ChatGPT and Copilot, demonstrated how they can support day-to-day work, and invited participants to try them out for themselves. The session, involving both operational and clinical staff, created space to discuss risks and concerns, such as data bias, reliability, and organisational readiness. This helped ground the conversation in the realities of service delivery, not just the ‘art of the possible’.

The masterclass struck a chord. People appreciated the informal tone, the chance to experiment with tools without pressure, and the time to ask the so-called “obvious” questions in a supportive space. The session gave staff confidence to explore AI further, and to have open conversations about how it might be used responsibly and effectively in their work.

Since the session, teams across the HSE have started talking more practically about AI adoption. We’ve seen interest grow in specific, grounded applications such as language translation and automated triage tools. There’s also been more reflection on how to build digital capability at an organisational level, making sure people feel supported and skilled as change happens.

The AI Opportunity Action Plan and the Blueprint for Modern Digital Government talk about the need to build capability across the public sector, create responsible routes to adoption, and ensure services are designed around real-world needs. This masterclass, as only the beginning of the HSE’s AI journey, is an example of how can support these plans to work, really. Building simple understanding, creating space for honest conversations, and connecting what might be seen as scary new technology to everyday service challenges, like patient wait times, are our main takeaways of making AI “do-able” for the public sector.

Finally, this masterclass wasn’t about promoting AI. It was about equipping teams to engage with it critically and constructively. It was about demystifying the unknown and helping people take the first step from uncertainty to informed curiosity. We think that’s where real, meaningful change begins.

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