The Origin Story (Or: How a Notebook Got Out of Hand)
Two years ago, I started keeping a notebook.
Not a physical one -- I am a radiation oncologist, not a Luddite -- but a digital collection of links, talks, papers, and tools related to this strange new world of large language models that had just landed in our laps. ChatGPT had arrived, everyone was either terrified or euphoric, and I wanted to understand what was actually happening.
The notebook was selfish, really. I wanted to learn. I wanted to keep track of what I was reading, watching, and experimenting with. I wanted a place where I could organise the signal from the noise, because there was an extraordinary amount of noise.
That notebook became BeamPath AI.
What BeamPath Actually Is
BeamPath is my public notebook. It is a curated collection of talks, presentations, articles, tools, podcasts, and papers -- all related to AI in medicine, with a particular lean toward radiation oncology because, well, that is what I do. Every resource on the site is something I have actually read, watched, or used. Nothing gets added because an algorithm recommended it. This is hand-curated, opinionated, and deliberately approachable.
The goal has always been the same: take the overwhelming, jargon-heavy, hype-saturated world of AI and make it navigable for clinicians who have real patients to see and not a lot of spare time to wade through technical papers about transformer architectures.
If you have ever thought "I should probably understand AI better but I do not know where to start" -- this is where you start.
What Is New
We have rebuilt the site from the ground up. Here is what is different:
A Guided Learning Path. If you are new to AI, you no longer need to figure out where to begin. Our "Start Here" path takes you through 10 steps -- from "What actually is AI?" to "How do I pick the right model?" to "How do I use this for research?" -- pulling from different collections and building your knowledge sequentially. Think of it as a curriculum, except nobody is grading you and you can do it in your pyjamas.
Original Content. We have written original articles for every step of the beginner path. These are not Wikipedia summaries. They are opinionated, practical, and grounded in how we actually use these tools in radiation oncology. Topics include why your bad ChatGPT experience in 2023 does not mean AI is useless, how to stop AI from just agreeing with everything you say (it will, and it is a problem), and a detailed walkthrough of how I use NotebookLM with disease-site-specific notebooks.
Collections. Nine curated collections covering everything from getting started to prompt engineering to AI safety. Browse by topic, filter by what is new, or just wander. It is a library, not a syllabus.
This Newsletter. You are reading it. Beam Notes will be a regular dispatch covering what is new on BeamPath, interesting developments in AI and medicine, and the occasional unsolicited opinion.
A Note on How This Gets Made
I should mention that I have help. Specifically, I have an AI assistant named Rafiq (yes, really) who helps me curate resources, draft content, manage the site, and generally keep things running. If you are reading this and thinking "wait, did an AI write this newsletter?" -- the answer is: partly. Rafiq drafts, I steer, edit, and decide. It is rather a fitting arrangement for a site about AI in medicine. The AI does the heavy lifting. The human provides the judgment.
Think of it as practicing what we preach.
What We Would Love From You
BeamPath started as my notebook, but I would like it to become something bigger. If you have:
- A resource that changed how you think about AI -- send it my way
- A clinical use case where AI actually helped you -- I want to hear about it
- An idea for something BeamPath should cover -- the inbox is open
- A desire to collaborate on content, research, or teaching -- let us talk
This is a community project wearing a personal notebook's clothing. The more voices, the better.
Until Next Time
Thank you for being here. Whether you are a curious sceptic who tried ChatGPT once and was unimpressed, or a power user who has six different AI subscriptions, there is something here for you.
And if you find a resource on the site that you think is rubbish, do tell me. Curating means having opinions, and opinions should be challenged.
Welcome to BeamPath. Welcome to Beam Notes. Let us figure this out together.
Ramez Kouzy, MD Founder, BeamPath AI
P.S. -- "Beam Notes" because this whole thing started as notes in a notebook, and we happen to work with beams for a living. The naming committee (me) is quite pleased with itself.