Hold Fast: AI, Humanity and the Future of Aged Care with Donald Macaskill

Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health.

At the recent ITAC Conference in Brisbane, one keynote stopped the room.

While most AI presentations focus on efficiency, automation and productivity, Scottish Care CEO Dr Donald Macaskill delivered something very different: a deeply human conversation about dignity, autonomy, storytelling, privacy and what healthcare risks losing in the race toward artificial intelligence.

In this episode of Pulse, Louise and George sit down with Donald to unpack Scotland’s ethical and human rights-based approach to AI in aged care — and why he believes AI is not inevitable, but a choice.

The conversation explores:

• the shift from person-centred to person-led care,
• why current AI systems often fail to reflect the lived experience of ageing,
• the risks of surveillance and opaque decision-making in care environments,
• how Scotland is using co-design and human rights frameworks to shape AI adoption,
• and why technology should enhance — never replace — human presence and relationships.

Donald also shares practical lessons from Scottish initiatives including the Oxford Institute for Ethics in AI and the Coorie Well project, where residents, families and frontline staff helped shape AI tools from the ground up.

And in a memorable closing exchange, Donald reflects on the one thing machines may never truly understand about care: laughter.

A thoughtful, philosophical and surprisingly funny conversation about what it means to “hold fast” to humanity in the age of AI.

Connect with Donald on LinkedIn

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Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric