Wendy Goldberg thought her question was straightforward enough.
A 79-year-old retired lawyer in Los Angeles, Ms. Goldberg wanted to eat more protein, something she had read could help rebuild bone density. She hoped her primary care provider could tell her exactly how much was enough.
She dashed off a message, but the response left her feeling that the doctor hadn’t read her question, or even her chart. The doctor offered generic advice: Stop smoking (she doesn’t smoke), avoid alcohol (she doesn’t drink), exercise regularly (she works out three times a week). Most infuriatingly, she was advised to eat “adequate protein to support bone health,” no specifics included.
Frustrated, Ms. Goldberg posed the same question to ChatGPT. Within seconds, it produced a daily protein goal in grams.
She shot back one last message to her doctor: “I can get more information from ChatGPT than I can from you.”
Ms. Goldberg didn’t really trust ChatGPT, she said, but she had also become “disillusioned with the state of corporate medical care.”
Driven in part by frustrations with the medical system, more and more Americans are seeking advice from A.I. Last year, about one in six adults — and about a quarter of adults under 30 — used chatbots to find health information at least once a month, according to a survey from KFF, a health policy research group. Liz Hamel, who directs survey research at the group, said that number was probably higher now.
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