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A new survey from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center reveals a significant trend in health care: half of Americans are using artificial intelligence to make important health decisions without consulting their doctor. This rising reliance on AI for self-diagnosis is raising alarms among medical professionals who caution that the technology cannot replace human expertise.
Chief Health Informatics Officer Dr. Ravi Tripathi warns AI is a tool, not a total problem solver, stressing it “doesn’t understand your story.” The survey also found fewer Americans are comfortable using AI in their care today compared to a similar 2024 survey, indicating a growing discernment among users.
Dr. Tripathi is guiding patients on how to responsibly integrate AI into their care. He recommends using AI as a companion or understanding tool to prepare for appointments. Patients can feed a private AI their health history and symptoms to generate a list of questions, and then present any AI-generated findings to their doctor for diagnosis and validation.
For patients like Seth Miller, an AI user who tracked his recovery after shoulder surgery, the technology acts as a “second brain” to connect various data sources for better personal health management.
