Patients ‘more likely to discuss some health conditions with AI than a GP’

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Patients are more likely to discuss stigmatising health conditions such as sexually transmitted infections with an AI chatbot than a GP, new research suggests. Our research finds that patients value the opinion of healthcare professionals, therefore implementation of AI in healthcare may not be suitable in all cases, especially for serious illnesses Dr Tom Nadarzynski But they warned that the healthcare sector needed also to recognise the limitations of such technology and only use it in certain scenarios. “Many AI developers need to assess whether their AI-based healthcare tools such as symptoms checkers or risk calculators are acceptable interventions,” Dr Tom Nadarzynski, lead author of the study from the University of Westminster, said. “Our research finds that patients value the opinion of healthcare professionals, therefore implementation of AI in healthcare may not be suitable in all cases, especially for serious illnesses.”