AI Chatbots for Health: Promises and Pitfalls

0:00In Durham, its March 2nd, here's what is happening. Tech companies are rolling out AI chatbots tailored for health questions as millions turn to them for advice. In January, open AI launched Chat GPT Health, which reviews medical records, wellness apps, and wearable data to explain results in spot trends. It's on a waiting list right now, and rival anthropic offer similar tools in its clawed chatbot. These programs stress their no replacement for doctors and can't diagnose conditions. Instead, they summarize test results, prep uses for appointments, or highlight patterns and health data. Doctors note this beats a basic Google search by making answers more personal, especially with details from your history, like prescriptions or age. Experts like Dr. Robert Wockter from University of California, San Francisco say using them responsibly can provide useful info when patients might. Otherwise, guess, or skip help. But for serious symptoms like chest pain or shortness of breath, skip the bot and get real medical care right away.

1:04Always approach with some skepticism. Privacy is a big catch, sharing data with these companies isn't covered by federal health laws like HIPAA, so fines don't apply to AI firms. Open AI and anthropic promise extra protections, no training on your info, and easy opt-out, but it's not the same as handing records to a doctor. Early test show promise by nailing medical scenarios 95% of the time, but real interactions falter when uses with whole details or mix good and bad advice. Getting a second opinion from tools like Gemini helps, and experts hope better back and forth questioning will make them even more reliable soon. The Daily News Now is grateful to our sponsor for today's episode. Your pillow, your podcast, your moment made for listening in bed, S-O-L-I-SOL-E-Pillow.com.