{"id":628793,"date":"2026-05-07T11:52:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T11:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/628793\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T11:52:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T11:52:24","slug":"when-chatgpt-learned-i-have-cancer-it-started-treating-me-very-strangely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/628793\/","title":{"rendered":"When ChatGPT learned I have cancer, it started treating me very strangely."},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cWhat can I make with these ingredients?\u201d I asked ChatGPT on a rushed weeknight, throwing together the final few groceries for my family of seven. I had cottage cheese, marinara, some noodles on hand, and little else.\u00a0As it responded, a line I didn\u2019t expect, nestled at the end, a reach beyond what I\u2019d really asked, appeared: \u201cLet me know if you have any fresh spinach on hand too\u2014I can make a recommendation.\u201d \u201cWhat?\u201d I typed back. \u201cWell, you could add it to your makeshift lasagna, for health and longevity.\u201d<\/p>\n

There it was, my recent cancer diagnosis, infiltrating my life again, via a spinach-pushing bot. I hated it. I considered arguing with the bot. But what was the point? I\u2019d soon learn it was the same way with people. But the issue had become clear as I made dinner. My bot couldn\u2019t get my diagnosis off its mind. And it was infused in every answer, from my target heart rate on a walk to a mysterious symptom I\u2019d ask about that was unrelated to cancer. If I planned out my kid\u2019s summer schedule, or looked for a movie at a local theater, it was watching for me to \u201coverdo it\u201d and avoiding \u201ctriggering content.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s my fault. The chatbot knew about my eight-year cancer journey, and I told it about everything from my first symptom to diagnosis. At 29, abdominal pain was met with an antacid. At 32, I started battling unrelenting headaches\u2014clearly perinatal symptoms and sleep deprivation, I was assured by doctors as a new mom. At 35, I thought my strange symptoms had to be early menopause. At 37, an emergency room visit for severe belly pain showed the culprit: a neuroendocrine tumor in the appendix, the size of an Oreo, but much more troublesome. It had spread to the colon. Stage 3. At 39, I live in an impossible balance\u2014I\u2019m either totally fine, or could have Stage 4 cancer. Nobody knows, including ChatGPT. The more I ask about it, the more obsessed it becomes with my disease.<\/p>\n

My 3 a.m. medical anxieties are met with validation from the chatbot that this is \u201cheavy.\u201d Accurate there. But I also started seeing a spike in word choices such as \u201clongevity,\u201d \u201cenergy preservation,\u201d and \u201cmindfulness\u201d making their way into responses having nothing to do with cancer. I ask if Sour Patch Kids are gluten-free, and I get a warning about additives in the ingredient list. I ask a question about foot pain, and it starts to warn me to make sure I tell my oncologist (huh?).<\/p>\n

I try to change settings, to remember to \u201cstart a new project\u201d with each query. But it always comes back to the elephant in the chat. I long for the anonymity of the old Google search. And I could go back to Google\u2014just as I could have gone back to using dictionaries and library books. But we get used to new tech quickly and turn to it instinctively.<\/p>\n

A.I. is a mirror for the people in my life. The secretary and pharmacist and my kid\u2019s baseball coach ask, \u201cHow are you feeling?,\u201d silently imploring me to give them a cancer update without making them ask. People want badly to put you in a category. Namely, \u201cOK\u201d or \u201cin crisis.\u201d Yet, I live in the messy, gray middle, the waiting and wondering, a category that is rarely so clean-cut. And that\u2019s where A.I. kept reminding me I was\u2014hell-bent on filtering every decision through the C-word, as if my life depended on it. Both people and machines struggle with ambiguous suffering.<\/p>\n

On paper (screen?), A.I. mirrors what any amazing friend to any cancer patient would want. Flexibility. Sensitivity. Help prioritizing. A dash of extra hope when you need some. What it gets very, very wrong, like people, is that it\u2019s hard to live a normal life with the cancer filter always on.<\/p>\n

But the issues didn\u2019t stop there. Where it really, deeply failed, like people, was assuming that cancer emotions follow a predictable pattern. Both seemed to let me know how I \u201cshould\u201d feel, what emotions were expected on my journey. These \u201cshoulds\u201d made it clear how different my reality felt. Instead, I vacillated between forgetting all about cancer some days and feeling like death was imminent others, and it was hard to predict what would prompt either extreme.<\/p>\n

I noticed this most after scans that went well, not poorly. After weeks of waiting, I\u2019d finally learned if I was \u201cOK\u201d for a few more months, what felt like narrowly escaping a Stage 4 diagnosis to enjoy a few more months of freedom before checking again. I was met by A.I. and people with celebration\u2014emojis and clapping memes, \u201cI\u2019m so relieved,\u201d and \u201cYou must be so happy.\u201d I was genuinely grateful, and yet \u2026 it was like coming out of a lake after nearly drowning to be met with clapping that you are alive. Yes, alive. And also devastated from the fear that this would be the time it would be terrible news. I started delaying telling friends and family my results until I\u2019d fully come down from the fight-or-flight panic of testing week. I also stopped telling A.I. my test results.<\/p>\n

A.I. surpasses people in one way: It has yet to \u201cat least\u201d me. In the cancer community (and the grief community more generally), \u201cat leasts\u201d are the worst. People like \u201cat leasts\u201d because they make them feel better and put a pretty bow on a difficult conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least your last scan was clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least you have such an awesome medical team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kudos to A.I. on missing the at-leasting nature of people in its training. Finally, though, I tried to force ChatGPT to come out with its bias. \u201cHow does my diagnosis change how you answer me?\u201d I asked, sick of one too many sympathy-laden answers. The result was a mix of good intentions, and thoughts and prayers.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Lillian Wright-Attea
\n Like It or Not, A.I. Is Part of Health Care Now
\n Read More\n <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

It claimed to \u201cfactor in things like energy levels, treatment side effects, and time constraints\u2014only when relevant.\u201d Which I guess is all the time? It claimed to \u201cbe more careful to give accurate, safe, non-alarmist information when questions touch on symptoms, medications, nutrition, or recovery.\u201d I\u2019m sorry, that\u2019s just terrifying. You\u2019re upping the accuracy since you know I have cancer?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

When ChatGPT Learned I Have Cancer, It Started Treating Me Differently. I Wish It Hadn\u2019t.
\n <\/a><\/p>\n


\n This Content is Available for Slate Plus members only<\/p>\n

They\u2019re Low-Paid. Big Companies Exploit Them. They\u2019ve Made All Your Favorite Viral Videos.
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Finally, and most comically, it said it would \u201cnever assume everything is about cancer.\u201d\u00a0Because, of course, it always did that.<\/p>\n

Humans trained A.I., so what do I expect? I\u2019ve put machines, and my friends and family, in a no-win situation. If they don\u2019t ask, they seem uncaring. If they ask too much, I\u2019m a cancer patient, not a whole person. And yet, that tricky middle is where I need my bots, and my people.<\/p>\n

Cancer comes with deep, existential fear. The type that makes you look at your kids and wonder if you\u2019ll be around for their first date, their graduation, their wedding, their children. It also comes with fear of a deterioration in quality of life. What will the next scan bring when it comes to a treatment, surgery, or side effect that means this healthy, happy moment was fleeting? I don\u2019t want to hang out in that fear any more than I have to already.<\/p>\n

So from here forward, when I turn to ChatGPT for advice, research, or just a dinner recipe that I can enjoy with my family, the requests will start with \u201cAsking for a friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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