Nooooo

I've asked an AI chatbot for health advice. AMA.

Last night: bad headache and I just wanted fast advice on how to make it go away. I'd already taken acetaminophen, applied cold to my forehead, and neti-potted (since it felt a tad sinusy). Chatbot told me it was probably a tension headache and suggested some next steps. Head still hurts the next day.

Couple months ago: partner had baaaaad pain, I suspected what it might be, chatbot seconded my suspicion. [Edit: urgent care thirded my suspicion and sent us to the emergency room.] Turns out it wasn't that, but we were seen very quickly at the ER and it turned out to be something else. Having a chatbot to bounce my worries off of has been helpful over the last few months as the actual issue was resolved. The bot doesn't take the place of my partner's care team, but can help me research what the next steps might be so I'm not blindsided. It also helped dig up post-surgical instructions from other surgeons because (for some reason) partner's surgical office didn't provide those until after the surgery, which makes it hard to prep the home environment.

So, it has its place (especially in telling you what you already know or suspect) but I don't want to see AI replace real medical professionals.

Oh, and my specialist's office went to an AI phone scheduler and that thing can go melt itself. It wouldn't let me schedule with the doctor I usually see because it, it explained, it wanted to keep me with the same care team. I had to convince it to let me talk to a real person and the real person was like "Oh, Dr. F? We'll have to schedule you a month further out, is that ok?" The AI phone scheduler also politely refused to help me bake chocolate chip cookies.