{"id":315894,"date":"2026-02-25T04:26:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T04:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/315894\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T04:26:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T04:26:32","slug":"a-confident-answer-isnt-the-same-as-a-correct-one-i-asked-medical-experts-whether-you-should-use-chatgpt-for-health-advice-and-i-was-shocked-by-their-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/315894\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A confident answer isn\u2019t the same as a correct one\u2019 \u2014 I asked medical experts whether you should use ChatGPT for health advice, and I was shocked by their answers"},"content":{"rendered":"

People are increasingly turning to ChatGPT<\/a> and other AI tools for health advice. They\u2019re using them to make sense of symptoms, decode medical letters, understand diagnoses, seek reassurance before appointments, and prepare questions for clinicians.<\/p>\n

That shift isn\u2019t surprising. People have always looked online for health information, but AI tools are different. They\u2019re conversational, personalized, always available, and often sound confident in their answers. Many of the same factors driving interest in AI for therapy<\/a> are now shaping how people use it for health.<\/p>\n

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But health use comes with real risks. I spoke to healthcare experts about how people are using AI tools<\/a>, where they can be genuinely helpful, and where they may create confusion, false reassurance, or even harm.<\/p>\n

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How are people using AI for health?<\/p>\n

Healthcare providers should now assume that any patient they see may have already asked ChatGPT before coming in.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Hinkel, a healthcare consultant and president of Sigla Sciences<\/p>\n

\u201cAI use is ubiquitous,\u201d says Jennifer Hinkel, a healthcare consultant and president of Sigla Sciences. \u201cHealthcare providers should now assume that any patient they see may have already asked ChatGPT before coming in \u2013 and that they\u2019ll ask it again after they leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen a lot of claims that ChatGPT is now the first port of call for health questions, but what are people actually asking? \u201cWe\u2019re seeing patients use it mainly for questions about their medications, symptoms, and to read about their diagnoses,\u201d says Ranya Habash, MD and chief medical officer at Helfie AI.<\/p>\n

Sure, people have always used the internet for health advice and Googled their symptoms. But with AI, things feel different. Patients are largely using ChatGPT as a more conversational version of Google<\/a>. \u201cChatGPT feels more personal because it responds in natural language patterns,\u201d Habash says. \u201cIt sounds like your friend, and it sounds confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to see why a tool like ChatGPT is so appealing. It sounds friendly, draws on vast amounts of information, and is very accessible. Many people already turn to it for work, planning, and personal advice, so asking a few health-related questions can feel like a natural extension of how they\u2019re using it day to day rather than a deliberate decision to adopt a new health app or platform.<\/p>\n

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Where AI can genuinely help<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is real value in patients being able to have what feels like a private conversation on health issues with a machine that has been programmed to be \u2018helpful\u2019 and show \u2018caring\u2019,\u201d Hinkel says.<\/p>\n

She also believes there\u2019s something comforting about having constant access to information. \u201cWhether it\u2019s 2am or between 9am and 5pm, people can get answers,\u201d she tells me. \u201cWe know health outcomes are better when patients are informed and engaged with their health, so if ChatGPT helps them get there, I see that as a positive impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both experts agreed that, when used carefully, tools like ChatGPT could help people feel more informed and engaged in their own health. \u201cIn most cases, patients having more information is useful and aligned with improved health outcomes,\u201d Hinkel says. \u201cWhen patients better understand their health, they\u2019re better able to adopt behaviours that help them stay healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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I spoke to several people who regularly use AI tools for health advice and they echoed this view. Sophie (whose name has been changed here) told me she\u2019s been relying on ChatGPT during early pregnancy, particularly after a stressful scan she attended alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cUploading my notes and getting everything explained was so helpful and reassuring,\u201d she said. \u201cI didn\u2019t really take in what the doctors were saying at the time. It\u2019s the emotional framing afterwards that\u2019s been helpful.\u201d She also said that she\u2019d relied on ChatGPT for follow-up appointments, which gave her guidance on what to expect and what important information to communicate.<\/p>\n

Habash agrees that this \u201ctranslator\u201d role is where AI shines. \u201cIt can turn medical jargon into plain language,\u201d she says. \u201cThat helps patients and it helps doctors too. We want to make sure that our patients have a good understanding of their conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"An\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Pixabay)The harms experts are worried about<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not democratizing information if only people who know how to ask get full answers.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Jennifer Hinkel, a healthcare consultant and president of Sigla Sciences<\/p>\n

The same traits that make AI tools appealing, like confidence, fluency and reassurance, are also where some of the dangers might lie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do see a few major risks,\u201d Hinkel tells me. The first is that the quality of information depends heavily on how questions are asked. \u201cThe comprehensiveness of information correlates with the sophistication of the prompt,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe\u2019re not democratizing information if only people who know how to ask get full answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea that you need the right prompt to get a useful answer comes up again and again with AI. I\u2019ve seen so-called AI experts blame users for poor results, arguing that their prompting strategy isn\u2019t good enough \u2013 often while trying to sell a course or framework to fix it. But that misses the real issue. I don\u2019t see it as a user failure but a mismatch between how AI is sold to us and how it actually works. AI tools are sold as \u201cask anything\u201d systems, with no mention of best-practice prompting at sign-up, so it makes little sense to fault people for not knowing rules they were never told existed.<\/p>\n

The second risk is more straightforward. We know AI tools get things wrong. Sometimes very wrong. That can be due to misattributed sources, outdated information, or hallucinations, which is when a system confidently presents information that isn\u2019t true.<\/p>\n

That can happen in all sorts of contexts. But what\u2019s specific to health is that while an AI can pull together large amounts of information, it isn\u2019t a doctor and can\u2019t meaningfully diagnose.<\/p>\n

Claire (whose name has been changed) told me she noticed a growth on her nose and, while waiting to see a dermatologist, uploaded a photo to ChatGPT to ask what it might be. \u201cIt said it\u2019s either skin cancer or something unharmful,\u201d she says. \u201cWhich wasn\u2019t very helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I said, \u2018do you think it could just be a wart?\u2019 it then said \u2018yes, it could be a wart.\u2019 So ChatGPT didn\u2019t score any doctor points there,\u201d she tells me.<\/p>\n

We know that ChatGPT agreeing with everything a user tells it is a problem. But it can have more far-reaching consequences when it comes to dealing with mental and physical health.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI advice sounds friendly and confident. That\u2019s a blessing and a curse,\u201d Habash says. \u201cA confident answer is not the same as a correct one, and that can delay care.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to diagnosis, context matters, and it\u2019s something AI often lacks. That\u2019s partly because a user can\u2019t realistically supply every detail a clinician would consider, and partly because an AI doesn\u2019t have a diagnostic process or lived clinical experience to know which signals matter most.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe same symptoms can mean very different things depending on age, sex, and risk factors,\u201d Hinkel explains. \u201cBut the AI doesn\u2019t know the underlying risk unless it knows who\u2019s asking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Habash adds that clinicians integrate nuance instinctively. \u201cChest pain, stroke signs, pregnancy-related pain, these depend on context, examination, and measurements. A conversation alone can\u2019t capture that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both experts raised concerns about health literacy and equity. \u201cLower health literacy is likely to give you more superficial answers,\u201d Hinkel says. \u201cThose who already understand their condition and know what to ask may benefit. Those who are genuinely confused may be left behind.\u201d That creates a troubling divide if AI tools are positioned as a shortcut to better healthcare access.<\/p>\n

Habash also flagged anxiety and chronic illness as risk factors. \u201cPeople with overlapping conditions and multiple medications face more risk from generic advice. A confident answer can feel more definitive than it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Doctor\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Hush Naidoo)What to keep in mind if you use AI for health<\/p>\n

Experts suggest treating AI as supporting tools, not substitutes \u2013 and being deliberate about how you use them.<\/p>\n

Understand how they work<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t need to know much. Just that AI often sounds confidently right (even when it\u2019s not) and draws on vast amounts of information. Hinkel says it\u2019s important to be aware that tools like ChatGPT will often serve up information based on frequency. \u201cIf something appears often in training data, it may rise to the top,\u201d she warns, \u201ceven if it\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Check for outdated advice<\/p>\n

Similarly, it\u2019s useful to remember that AI tools learn from information that can be really old. There are also often training data cut off points, which means even some of the newest information it has can be from a few months ago and may no longer reflect current standards of care. \u201cTimeliness matters in health,\u201d Hinkel says.<\/p>\n

Ask better questions, but stay wary<\/p>\n

More detail in your initial prompts can help, but even prompting tricks aren\u2019t a safety net. \u201cVerify everything,\u201d Hinkel says.<\/p>\n

Be mindful of privacy<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know with absolute certainty how AI companies are currently using your data or might use it in the future. But it\u2019s worth stopping to think whether you\u2019re comfortable sharing highly sensitive information about your health.<\/p>\n

Use AI for lower-risk tasks<\/p>\n

Habash recommends using AI tools for advice about diet, exercise, stress relief, and understanding tests or medications, but not for diagnosis or treatment changes.<\/p>\n

Pay attention to your body<\/p>\n

Most importantly, don\u2019t take ChatGPT\u2019s advice above your own instinct. \u201cIf a symptom is sudden, severe, or getting worse, that\u2019s your body telling you to get help,\u201d Habash says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People are increasingly turning to ChatGPT and other AI tools for health advice. They\u2019re using them to make…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[103,397,396,61,60],"class_list":["post-315894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}