BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – Millions of Americans are turning to AI for answers, but a local doctor warns that using it to diagnose symptoms could put health at risk.
People use AI tools like ChatGPT every day for recipes, texts and travel plans, but for higher-stakes questions like what’s making you sick, doctors say turn to a professional.
Dr. Heath Haggard is an internal medicine physician, and he says AI may have a place in medicine, just not in the exam room or in place of a real doctor.
He says AI can help some medical professionals with paperwork, but using it to diagnose patients or diagnose yourself is where it gets dangerous.
“Number 1, the biases that patients will bring in to it that can cause it go astray. Number 2, it’s very centered on language and input and so that can be very misleading. Number 3 is you kind of cut short the path of clinical reasoning and that’s probably the most dangerous thing,” said Haggard, an internal medicine physician at Southview Medical Group.
Just like people are told not to rely on Google for medical questions, the same goes for AI tools. Haggard says if you’re sick, the safest way to get real answers is still the same: see your doctor.
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