Millions of Americans Are Talking to AI Instead of Going to the Doctor, and It’s Giving Them Horrendously Flawed Medical Advice
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A new study found that AI chatbots are not reliable for medical advice, with failure rates exceeding 80% for ambiguous symptoms. Millions of Americans are already using AI for health advice, often instead of consulting a doctor.
Researchers tested 21 large language models (LLMs) on realistic symptoms and found they were not ready for unsupervised clinical use. The AIs failed 80% of the time with ambiguous symptoms and 40% with straightforward cases. A survey found that 66 million American adults are using chatbots like ChatGPT for medical advice, with 9 million saying they never saw a provider they would have otherwise seen. Many respondents cited cost and time as reasons for consulting AI instead of a doctor. The study highlights the risks of relying on AI for health advice, which can lead to misleading information and potentially dangerous advice. Health systems must keep pace with the growing trend of Americans seeking health information from AI.
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