AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Google Gemini, are gaining popularity for answering health-related questions, with 17% of adults reportedly using them at least once a month, according to a recent survey.
Risks and Limitations
However, experts caution that these chatbots are not always reliable, as they can fabricate facts or confuse critical details while presenting their answers as accurate.
Kevin Loria, a health reporter for Consumer Reports, explained that these tools can be quite good at generating comprehensive and easy-to-understand information, but it’s really hard to know when there are inaccuracies.
A recent study found that people often over-trust AI-generated medical advice, with many respondents unable to distinguish between answers from a chatbot and those from a real doctor.
Privacy concerns are another significant issue, as AI systems are not bound by the same privacy laws as doctor’s offices, which means that any information shared with a chatbot could potentially be used, sold, or exposed in a data breach.
Consumer Reports advises using AI as a starting point for gathering information, not for making diagnoses or treatment decisions, and recommends keeping sensitive personal health information private and verifying any information with trusted sources such as MedlinePlus, the CDC, or recognized medical organizations.
Original reporting: WPBF West Palm Beach — read the source article.
