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   OpenAI says 40 million people use ChatGPT for healthcare every day   
      
   Date:   
   Tue, 06 Jan 2026 11:55:40 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   OpenAI's latest report states that 40 million people use ChatGPT for   
   health-related questions every day. Should we be worried?   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   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 mothers 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?    
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/openai/openai-says-40-millio   
   n-people-use-chatgpt-for-healthcare-every-day   
      
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