ChatGPT Health lets you connect medical records to an AI that makes things up

On Wednesday, OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT Health, a specialized extension of its AI chatbot aimed at facilitating discussions around health and wellness. This feature is designed to securely link a user’s health and medical records with the chatbot. However, the integration of generative AI technology like ChatGPT into health-related advice has sparked significant controversy since the service's initial rollout in late 2022. A recent investigation by SFGate highlighted the potential dangers of relying on AI for health guidance. It recounted the tragic case of a 19-year-old man from California who died of a drug overdose after spending 18 months seeking drug-related advice from ChatGPT. This incident underscores the risks associated with following potentially flawed AI recommendations during extended interactions. Despite ongoing concerns about the reliability of AI chatbots, OpenAI's new Health feature promises to allow users to connect their medical records and wellness applications, such as Apple Health and MyFitnessPal. This integration aims to enable ChatGPT to generate tailored health responses, including summarizing care instructions, aiding in preparation for doctor visits, and clarifying test results. OpenAI reports that over 230 million health inquiries are made on ChatGPT every week, highlighting its significance as one of the most prevalent uses of the chatbot. The development of ChatGPT Health involved collaboration with more than 260 physicians over a two-year period, and OpenAI assures users that conversations within this new section will not contribute to the training of its AI models. In a blog post, Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of applications, emphasized that ChatGPT Health represents a significant advancement in transforming ChatGPT into a comprehensive personal assistant, capable of providing valuable information and tools to help users achieve their goals across various aspects of their lives.