Even though artificial intelligence has already become part of everyday life, it still feels slightly futuristic when we think about its role in healthcare. From smart assistants and navigation apps to recommendation systems and autonomous vehicles, most people already interact with AI daily, often without even realising it. That is exactly why I decided to create this AI in Medicine ESL Lesson focused on the future of healthcare, technology, and whether doctors should feel excited or concerned about the growing use of AI in medicine.
Last week, a few of my classes focused on using AI in our everyday tasks. We talked about students’ attitudes regarding the topic and whether they find it useful or believe it is overrated. Naturally, this made me think of another burning topic – the use of AI at work and whether workers are afraid of losing jobs to the new technology. The first group that I thought of were doctors.
This lesson includes a presentation, a worksheet, and teacher’s notes. They all focus on real-life examples of AI in medicine. You can download the materials for free at the end of the post.
Warmer: Everyday AI
The topic of AI is introduced by showing pictures of everyday objects and services that use AI. At this point, students don’t know what they have in common and need to figure out the topic of the class by discussing the items and speculating how they are related. The items include a smartphone, social media, autonomous vehicles, smart TVs, digital personal assistants, and navigation. Collect and compare ideas from different groups and reveal the topic. Put students into their groups once again and ask them to discuss which application of AI shown in pictures is the most beneficial for them. Finish this part of the class by eliciting some ideas with justifications.
Listening for Gist 1: Can Doctors Be Replaced by AI?
Now it’s time for a video about the use of AI in medicine. Before watching the beginning of the video, ask students to talk about the title question – Can your doctor be replaced by AI? Discuss the answers as a group and then watch the beginning of the Gizmodo video Can your doctor be replaced by AI? Once you finish watching the introduction to the video, elicit the answer given by Doctor Erik K. Oearmann and whether students agree with him or not. The introduction works very well because it immediately presents one of the key ideas of the lesson — the importance of human connection in medicine.
Group Discussion: Advantages and Disadvantages of AI in Medicine
Since the rest of the video talks about the uses of AI in medicine – its benefits and drawbacks, I thought it could be a good idea for students to do the same without any prior knowledge. Put students into two groups – group A makes a list of the advantages, and group B makes a list of the disadvantages of AI in medicine. Once the lists are made, students swap partners and discuss their ideas. The goal of this debate is to decide whether there is a future for AI in medicine.
Listening for Gist 2: Benefits and Drawbacks
Watch the rest of the video (0:33 – 3:29) and check the answers. The video introduces several realistic applications of AI in medicine, including predicting patient outcomes, supporting diagnosis, reducing paperwork, and improving efficiency. At the same time, the video also raises concerns about misinformation, reliability, and whether patients should trust AI-generated medical advice. Finish by discussing if students currently use AI at work. If not, would they consider it in the future?
Listening for Detail: Vocabulary Focus
The next part of the lesson focuses on vocabulary development. Students listen to the video again and complete several sentences using missing words from the recording. The task introduces vocabulary such as accurate, diagnosing, predictions, and non-clinical. Afterwards, students analyse the words and identify their parts of speech before moving on to a word formation task. They complete a table with noun, verb, adjective, and adverb forms of the target vocabulary. I really like this addition to the lesson because it transforms the listening into a more advanced lexical task rather than simple gap-filling. It also makes the lesson feel much more connected to CAE-style vocabulary work.
Gap-Fill: Word Formation in Context
Students then complete another activity in which they use different forms of target words in sentences connected to AI and healthcare. The sentences are based on ideas from the video itself, which helps recycle both the vocabulary and the discussion points introduced earlier in the lesson. Since students are already familiar with the context, the activity feels more meaningful and less mechanical than isolated word formation exercises.
Final Discussion: Agree or Disagree?
The class ends with a pair discussion of the ideas mentioned in the video. Students go over the list of statements and discuss whether they agree with the points made by Doctor Oearmann or not. Monitor the activity and provide any speaking feedback as needed. Finish the class by sharing students’ opinions about the use of AI in medicine.
This AI in Medicine ESL Lesson combines authentic video, discussion, listening, vocabulary development, and word formation into a highly engaging lesson about one of the most important technological topics today. The lesson works especially well with adult learners and higher-level students because the topic feels realistic, current, and genuinely relevant to modern life.
Do you think AI will improve healthcare in the future, or create more problems than solutions?
