Welcome back to The AI-Ready Doctor, the podcast that transforms AI from an intimidating black box into a practical toolkit for researchers, clinicians, and anyone curious about the future of healthcare. In this episode, host Dr. Hassan Bencheqroun welcomes Dr. Ross Prager a respected intensivist, assistant professor, and critical care researcher known for his thought-provoking social media posts and his relentless curiosity about academia, publishing, and medical technology.
Together, they tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing academic researchers today: the tedious administrative and publishing tasks that slow down science, the rise of AI tools that promise to save researchers precious time, and the delicate balance between human intelligence and machine assistance. Dr. Prager shares the inspiration behind his own AI-powered tool, Resub, designed to take the pain out of manuscript formatting and submission, and offers candid advice about how to smartly and ethically incorporate AI into academic workflows.
From popular AI platforms like Open Evidence and Scispace, to deeper philosophical questions about AI "hallucinations" and the future of agentic or autonomous AI assistants, this conversation is packed with practical tips, honesty about academic frustrations, and a shared vision that AI can actually help researchers find joy in their work again.
Whether you’re a seasoned researcher, new to academic medicine, or just AI-curious, this episode will leave you with real insights, time-saving strategies, and a healthy dose of optimism for what’s possible when humans and AI work together.
00:00 AI Augmentation in Research Lifecycle
04:35 Research Process: From Curiosity to Publication
09:21 AI in Decision-Making and Diagnostics
11:24 Detecting Blind Spots in Research
16:00 "PDF Chat Analysis Enhancements"
18:47 AI for Structuring Research Ideas
22:00 AI Writing Plugin for Researchers
26:07 AI Integration Concerns and Benefits
30:49 AI Challenges Need for Academic Reviews
34:27 Academic Publishing & AI Ethics Issues
35:40 AI-Driven Peer Review Revolution
40:53 "Agentic AI: More Buzz Than Truth?"
44:35 Enhancing Writing with AI Tools
46:26 "AI Ready Doctor Farewell"
49:48 "Tagging on LinkedIn and X"
Revolutionizing Academic Publishing with AI: 5 Key Takeaways from The AI-Ready Doctor’s Riverside Episode with Dr. Prager
If you’re a medical researcher frustrated by the tedious nature of academic publishing, the latest episode of The AI-Ready Doctor podcast is a must-listen. Host Dr. Bencheqroun sat down with Dr. Ross Prager, intensivist, assistant professor, and creator of the AI-powered manuscript formatting tool Resub, to discuss how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing research, writing, and publishing.
Here’s a breakdown of the top insights and actionable tips from the episode that every clinician, academic, and curious AI enthusiast should know.
1. AI Gives Researchers the Gift of Time
Both Dr. Bencheqroun and Dr. Prager agreed: the biggest pain in academic life isn’t the science itself, it’s the mountain of administrative tasks, especially manuscript reformatting after a journal rejection. Dr. Prager’s motivation for Resub stemmed from his own experience:
“As the months potentially years go on, your enthusiasm starts to dwindle… It’s after that rejection of a manuscript and you’re reformatting and responding to peer review comments… it just gets pushed down our to-do list because nobody wants to do it.”
AI now offers the opportunity to automate these thankless tasks so researchers can focus on discovery and impact, not formatting and box-checking.
2. Use Case: AI Tools Excelling at Diagnostics and Differential Thinking
Dr. Prager highlighted that while AI is helpful in clinical management, its real magic is in diagnostic support. Tools like Open Evidence empower clinicians to double-check differential diagnoses and spot blind spots:
“I’ll put the case information into Open Evidence and say, ‘What are other differential diagnoses I’m not considering?’ It helps identify blind spots that I might not be considering.”
By using AI to challenge one’s thinking, clinicians can avoid costly oversights and improve patient outcomes.
3. Beware of the Hallucination, But Know the Risks Are Shrinking
A top concern for many researchers is AI hallucination, where models generate inaccurate or fabricated information. However, Dr. Prager’s recent study comparing AI-generated systematic reviews with human meta-analyses found remarkable concordance:
“None of the errors were due to hallucination… It was actually due to differences in which studies were included, which is actually a very human thing.”
Newer AI models are hallucinating less, especially as researchers stay in the loop and use AI as a complement rather than a replacement.
4. Resub: From Pain Point to Game-Changer
Resub, Dr. Prager’s AI tool, didn’t emerge from a love of technology it was born out of firsthand academic frustration. The tool automates manuscript formatting for journal resubmissions, saving researchers countless hours.
“We wanted to focus on a pain point that was near universal among researchers… 80% of researchers use Microsoft Word, so we’ve created a plugin that lives where they work.”
AI isn’t rewriting your research, it’s removing bureaucratic bottlenecks.
5. Transparency and Academic Integrity in the Age of AI
One critical discussion point: Do AI-assisted papers need to declare AI use? Both hosts agreed if AI is used for grammar, summaries, or formatting, it’s nothing new (think of spell-check or citation tools). If AI ghostwrites the science, that’s another matter. Transparency is key, but so is perspective:
“AI isn’t here to replace researchers… Human intelligence creates, AI augments and accelerates.”
Final Thoughts:
As Dr. Prager puts it, now’s the time to start experimenting with AI: “You’re either sitting at the table or you’re on the menu.” Whether you’re a publishing veteran or research newbie, using AI strategically can give you the ultimate academic edge more time for curiosity, creativity, and impact.
Listen to the full episode of The AI-Ready Doctor for more insights, and don’t forget: AI is your copilot, not your competitor.
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