What everyone should know before asking ChatGPT for medical advice

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When Alexandra Watson has a question about her heart condition, her first port of call is Chad. That’s not the name of her cardiologist – rather, it’s her nickname for ChatGPT, which she has been using for the past couple of years to check her symptoms.

Her condition is a rare one, and she says that the LLM (large language model) “cuts through the noise” to provide readable and easily understandable information. “I couldn’t get my cardiologist to spend this time talking me through every question I have on the subject,” she says. “But using AI “allows me to deep dive and talk hypothetically. Doctors are dismissive, Google just scares you, but Chad is helpful.”

In January, a report from OpenAI, the tech giant behind ChatGPT, claimed that more than 40 million people around the world use the bot for health advice every single day, accounting for more than 5 per cent of messages sent to it globally. And last year, research from healthcare champion Healthwatch found that 9 per cent of men and 7 per cent of women across England are using AI chatbots for medical queries.

For Watson, the fact that the chatbot can keep track of previous issues she has asked about, to give her a more comprehensive picture, is a bonus. It references her heart queries, for example, when she asks other health-related questions.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/ai-chatbot-chatgpt-medical-advice-safety-b2937197.html