- 40 million ChatGPT users ask about health every single day
- 200 million ChatGPT users ask AI at least once a week about health-related matters
- OpenAI says “AI is a healthcare ally”
OpenAI has published a report claiming that 40 million people are using ChatGPT for health-related questions every single day, a number that would have sounded wild a couple of years ago but now feels almost inevitable.
The company describes its chatbot as a healthcare ally, saying users regularly ask about symptoms, medications, treatment options, and how to navigate often overwhelmed health systems.
The report suggests more than five percent of all ChatGPT prompts are about health, and 200 million of the chatbot’s 800 million weekly users ask at least one health-related prompt every week.
Most of those are people trying to figure out whether a headache is serious, what a complicated diagnosis actually means, or whether a new prescription is supposed to make them feel this tired. I will admit I have done the same after a late-night indigestion spiral, something I used to turn to Google for only a couple of years ago.
How Americans use AI for health
OpenAI’s report asked 1,042 US adults who used AI for healthcare in the past 3 months just exactly how they use the chatbot for health-related matters.
55% used AI to “Check or explore symptoms”, 52% used a chatbot to “Ask healthcare questions at any time of day”, 48% for “understanding medical terms or instructions”, and 44% used AI to “learn about treatment options”.
OpenAI says these stats show “how Americans are using AI for healthcare navigation: organizing information, translating jargon, and generating drafts they can verify. “
One example the company highlighted was of Ayrin Santoso from San Francisco, who “used ChatGPT to help coordinate urgent care for her mother in Indonesia after her mother suffered sudden vision loss that her family attributed to fatigue.”
According to OpenAI, Santoso “entered symptoms, prior advice, and context, and received a clear warning from ChatGPT that her mother’s condition could signal a hypertensive crisis and possible stroke.”
From ChatGPT’s initial response, Santoso’s mother was hospitalized in Indonesia and has since “recovered 95% of her vision in the affected eye.”
Should we be worried?
OpenAI argues that AI can help outside clinic hours when real doctors are hard to reach. That makes sense on paper with confusing health information, but there are serious risks, especially when you take ChatGPT’s word as gospel.
A chatbot cannot replace a doctor; it does not have your full medical history, and it can still get things wrong in ways that matter. OpenAI says it is working with hospitals and researchers to improve accuracy and safety, but the core message is clear: millions of people have already decided AI is part of their health routine, whether the rest of us like it or not.
40 million daily users is a wild milestone, but while it’s easy to get carried away with such a landmark number, it’s worth remembering that people have been using technology like Google for health-related queries for well over a decade.
That said, Google’s top search results used to be led by reliable health-related websites like the UK’s NHS or WebMD. Now, AI Overviews add an element of AI uncertainty. And even more so when you’re turning to an AI chatbot like ChatGPT, capable of making up the most ridiculous information.
I don’t think using AI for quick tips on health-related matters is a bad thing, especially in countries like the United States, where you need to pay to see a doctor about a simple skin irritation. But how do you know it’s a simple skin irritation? And do you trust ChatGPT enough to take the risk?
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john-anthony.disotto@futurenet.com (John-Anthony Disotto)
