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Artificial intelligence is already a part of our daily lives in everything from streaming recommendations to navigation apps, and new research shows more people are now relying on chatbots like ChatGPT for health advice. According to a new Gallup poll, 25% of Americans report using AI for health information or advice in the last 30 days.
The survey of more than 5-thousand people nationwide looks at how often they use AI and what they used it for.
- It finds that most who use AI for health care advice do it in conjunction with doctors appointments or to answer questions.
- More than half (59%) use AI before going to the doctor and 56% use it afterward.
- Most people say they used it to answer questions about nutrition, exercise and physical health symptoms.
- But 14% admit they used AI when they couldn’t afford a doctor’s visit and 16% did when they couldn’t access a health provider.
- Another 21% turned to AI because they felt dismissed or ignored by a provider in the past.
- Younger adults were much more likely to use AI for research before going to the doctor than older adults.
- About a third (32%) of people from households earning less than $24-thousand a year report using AI because they couldn’t afford a doctor visit, while only 2% of those earning at least $180-thousand used it for the same reason.
- About half of those who used AI say they feel more confident going to the doctor and asking follow-up questions.
- But not everyone trusts the information they get from AI. A third (33%) say they trust it, another 34% don’t trust it, and 33% neither trust nor distrust it.
- Just 4% say they “strongly trust” the accuracy of AI-generated health information.
- And that’s probably a good thing, as researchers warn that AI is prone to giving out misinformation.
Source: Philly Voice