Doctors caution against using AI to self-diagnose illnesses during holidays

Doctors warn against using AI to self-diagnose

As seasonal illnesses increase during the holidays, doctors say more people are turning to artificial intelligence tools to assess their symptoms, a trend medical professionals caution against.

ORLANDO, Fla. - As seasonal illnesses increase during the holidays, doctors say more people are turning to artificial intelligence tools to assess their symptoms, a trend medical professionals caution against.

Patients are increasingly using AI as a primary source of health information or as a wellness guide to decide whether they need medical care, according to medical professionals.

What they're saying:

While AI may be an improvement over general internet searches, it should not be used as a diagnostic tool, doctors warn.

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Dr. Joshua Houser, director of emergency medicine at Baylor Scott & White Health warned that relying on AI for diagnoses can increase anxiety, cause patients to focus on serious conditions they do not have, and prompt requests for unnecessary or nonexistent tests.

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"They can come up with some very rare diagnoses and that can put a lot of fear and anxiety into people," Dr. Houser explains.

He said physicians are often left to reassure patients that their illness is far less severe than what AI-generated information suggests.

Additionally, AI might suggest treatments that are unproven or not backed by science.

"The last thing we want is for someone to have a bad outcome because they listened to ChatGPT," Houser said, but he added that AI is useful in educating patience after a proper diagnosis.