You’ve heard of “Dr. Google.” Now get ready for Dr. AI. With easy access to artificial intelligence, people from all walks of life are using these tools for health advice.
Although AI offers a variety of benefits for both medical professionals and patients, it also comes with risks. In fact, misuse of AI chatbots is the number one health technology hazard of 2026, according to the nonprofit ECRI.
However, when used appropriately, AI tools can be a helpful partner. Below, explore everything you need to know about how your patients may be using AI, from why they do it to how you can help them use it with intention.
How Patients Use AI for Health Advice
In a digital world, information is available in seconds, including medical advice. Patients want to know what’s wrong or get advice as quickly as possible, leading to an uptick in AI use for health.
Consider someone who spends the majority of their day at a computer. Perhaps they’ve noticed discomfort, numbness or tingling in their hands and wrists. Instead of calling a doctor, they turn to an AI tool.
They input their symptoms and concerns, and the platform spits out an answer in seconds. The person can then decide how to move forward.
This scenario doesn’t consider that the AI results could be inaccurate, nor does the model have the person’s medical history. However, for many individuals, these answers are good enough.
Why Do Patients Turn to AI for Healthcare?
People use AI for many purposes, especially as it is embedded in existing search engines and apps. That said, using such tools for health advice is a relatively new development, prompting research into the top reasons for its rise.
The results provide unique insights into how AI influences a patient’s engagement with healthcare. According to a recent KFF poll, people are turning to AI for medical concerns because they:
- Feel more comfortable sharing health information privately
- Want answers as quickly as possible
- Want to look up information about their concerns before deciding to see a provider
- Are unable to afford the cost of seeing a medical professional
- Do not have regular access to a doctor
In addition, some patients feel that since experts may already use AI, there’s not much difference if they use it themselves.
Risks of Patients’ Overreliance on AI
Amid a variety of new tools that let users consult an AI chatbot, like ChatGPT Health, come risks. While AI can be helpful, some of the most significant concerns about patient use include:
Accuracy
AI engines can search thousands of Internet pages, but that doesn’t mean they can synthesize them appropriately. Unfortunately, some of these tools can sound coherent in their responses, even if the result is incorrect.
These platforms can’t conduct physical exams, may lack a patient’s medical history and don’t have contextual reasoning skills. As a result, the advice it provides may not be useful and, in fact, could cause harm.
Another issue could stem from what sources the AI puts the most emphasis on. For example, a recent study found that Google’s AI Overviews rely heavily on YouTube for health questions, rather than official medical sources.
With time, AI is likely to become more accurate. However, as with a human, the technology can (and often will) make mistakes and spread misinformation.
A Patient’s Personal “Hype Machine”
Large language models (LLMs), or AI tools, are not trained in conversational interactions the same way a doctor is. In fact, many chatbots are designed to agree with the user, even if they’re incorrect.
A person may ask leading questions, leave out important details or use charged language. These factors could lead to inappropriate results from AI chatbots (even if they’re technically “factual”). Since AI doesn’t understand the nuances of human interactions, its accuracy can drop significantly.
Bias
Artificial intelligence resembles the information it is trained on—biases and all. That means it can contribute to healthcare inequities. For example, an AI may place more weight on a study that examines only a small group of people, potentially skewing the results.
In other cases, an AI bot may produce different results based on users’ demographics, such as race, gender or economic status.
Privacy
Currently, AI tools lack federal regulations for protecting users’ data, and are not subject to HIPAA. However, users would need to share their personal medical information to achieve the best results.
Given that there is no regulation, patients must take the platform’s word at face value in assuming it will protect their health data.
Inappropriate Suggestions
Many studies have found that people tend to trust AI results, even when they are inaccurate. AI may also present situations as less serious than they are, especially in more complex scenarios.
Unfortunately, that can lead to negative patient outcomes, including misdiagnosis and delayed treatment.
What Doctors Can Do
If your patients are going to use AI, it’s best to encourage safe and appropriate use through education and awareness. Here are some ways to help them understand how to use AI to their advantage:
- When to use AI vs. see a doctor: Patients should know when it’s okay to consult AI and when they should see a professional. Low-risk symptoms are likely okay to discuss with AI, but all major red flags indicate the need to be seen by a practitioner.
- Prompt suggestions: Help people avoid the pitfalls of AI hallucinations and bias by providing guidance on crafting effective prompts. For example, adding qualifiers such as “evidence-based” and “peer-reviewed research” can yield better results. Patients should also ask follow-up questions or prompt the AI to explain its reasoning and support its conclusion.
- Confirm suspicions with a professional: Encourage patients to verify any suspicions raised by AI with a medical professional. Teach them that chatbots can be a useful research partner, but that a doctor remains the best resource for health concerns.
An important thing to remember is that, as useful as AI can be, it can’t read between the lines. These tools also don’t understand context and the nuances of person-to-person interactions the way other people do, making proper use of them all the more integral.
Stay Informed About the Future of AI in Healthcare
As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, how it’s used in the medical industry will, too. Whether patients rely on it more for explanations or physicians use it to assist with diagnoses, the future of AI will be complex.
Stay up-to-date on the latest AI advances in healthcare by browsing our continuing medical education (CME) seminars!