An ER physician says AI chatbots can explain medical reports and help patients prepare for appointments, but should not replace a clinician for diagnosis or treatment decisions. In an Oxford study, people using AI identified relevant conditions in fewer than 35% of cases.
In a February 2026 Oxford study, nearly 1,300 people used an AI tool or their usual resources to work through 10 medical scenarios. The AI group was no better than controls at choosing the right action, doing so in fewer than 44% of cases. A separate study found unsafe triage advice in 41% of cases for ChatGPT 3.5 and 22% for GPT-4; the study was small and the models were older.
The physician recommends using AI to define medical terms and prepare questions, not to seek a final diagnosis or make medication changes. When people upload records to consumer apps, they are generally outside HIPAA's framework and rely on the company's privacy policy. The article advises removing names, birth dates, record numbers and insurance IDs before sharing records.
