US EditionAI Chatbots Give Misleading Medical Advice 50% of the Time, Study Finds
Grok had the highest share of problematic replies, and researchers said the chatbots often gave confident but incomplete medical guidance.
- A new BMJ Open study found half of medical information provided by five major chatbots was "problematic," with nearly 20 per cent deemed highly problematic. Researchers evaluated ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta, Grok, and DeepSeek across five health categories.
- Chatbots often "hallucinate," generating incorrect medical responses due to biased training data and a tendency to prioritize user beliefs over truth. These systems lack clinical judgment and are not licensed to provide professional health advice.
- Grok returned the most problematic responses at 58 per cent, followed by ChatGPT at 52 per cent and Meta at 50 per cent. Previous work found only 32 per cent of citations from specific models were accurate.
- Experts warned that expanding chatbot use in medicine requires "diligent oversight" to prevent misinformation amplification. Researchers emphasized the need for public education and professional training to ensure chatbots support rather than erode public health.
- Despite these limitations, more than 200 million people weekly ask ChatGPT health questions. The study authors concluded developers must reevaluate how these tools are deployed in public-facing health communication.
21 Articles
21 Articles
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Substantial amount of medical information provided by popular chatbots inaccurate and incomplete
A substantial amount of medical information provided by 5 popular chatbots is inaccurate and incomplete, with half of the answers to clear evidence based questions “somewhat” or “highly” problematic, show the results of a study published in the open access journal BMJ Open. Continued deployment of these chatbots without public education and oversight risks amplifying misinformation, warn the researchers.
AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Grok often provide inaccurate and incomplete health advice, experts warn in a new study. The chatbots answered 50 medical questions in a "problematic way," according to the German news agency dpa.
Research has revealed that medical advice from AI chatbots can be seriously inaccurate. Responses from many platforms were found to be incomplete or misleading. Experts recommend using AI only for information; always consult a doctor for treatment or medication.
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