When 17-year-old Lance Johnson from Phoenix woke up one August night with sharp pain in his lower right abdomen, he assumed it was the result of pizza and ice cream eaten hours earlier. But after five sleepless hours, he turned to an unlikely source for help—ChatGPT.
“I described what I’d eaten and where the pain was, and it said it sounded like appendicitis,” Johnson recalled. “It told me I should get it checked out.”
Following the advice, Johnson went to the emergency room, where doctors confirmed he had appendicitis and required immediate surgery. “I didn’t know anything about appendicitis before,” he said. “I think the doctors were surprised it diagnosed me before they did.”
His story reflects a growing trend: Americans are increasingly using AI tools for health-related queries, sometimes instead of “Dr. Google.” Surveys show one in seven adults over 50 and one in four under 30 turn to AI for medical information, with usage higher in areas lacking access to health care providers.
Doctors caution, however, that while AI platforms can be useful, they carry risks. “There is 100% a place for these tools to enrich patients’ care journeys,” said Dr. Adam Rodman, an internist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and director of AI programs at Harvard Medical School. “But you don’t want to rely on them as a doctor. They are best used to help patients understand their health, not to replace medical care.”
Experts say AI excels at answering fact-based questions—such as “what do plasma cells do?”—or explaining complex medical terms. Dr. Adeel Khan of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center noted that patients often use tools like ChatGPT to learn about diseases such as myeloma and treatment side effects, helping them prepare for conversations with their doctors.
Still, physicians warn against uploading sensitive medical records to these platforms due to privacy risks. “You are giving a tech company your personal health information, and that’s probably not a good thing,” Rodman said. He added that image-based AI tools remain unreliable for interpreting scans like MRIs or EKGs.
Doctors also advise framing questions carefully to avoid biased answers and using AI to break down medical jargon or prepare questions for appointments. “Patients often use it to get ready for visits,” said Dr. Colin Banas, chief medical officer at health tech firm DrFirst. “They’ll ask what questions to pose to their doctor, which makes appointments more productive.”
While Johnson’s case highlights the potential benefits of AI in spotting urgent health issues, experts stress that the technology should be seen as a supplement rather than a substitute for professional medical advice.
