AI Tools for Health Advice Gaining Popularity Among Americans

NEW YORK — When Tiffany Davis has concerns about side effects from her weight-loss injections, she skips the phone call to her doctor. Instead, she turns to ChatGPT on her phone.

“I basically tell ChatGPT how I’m feeling,” the 42-year-old from Mesquite, Texas shared. “I use it for anything I’m experiencing.”

According to a recent poll by the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America, consulting AI tools for health advice has become commonplace for Davis and many other Americans. Conducted in late 2025, this poll, which aligns with findings from at least three other surveys, revealed that around 25% of U.S. adults used AI for health-related information in the past month.

Dr. Karandeep Singh, the chief health AI officer at the University of California San Diego Health, noted that these AI tools, incorporating web search capabilities, serve as an enhanced version of traditional Google health searches that many have used for years.

“I see it as a better entry point to web search,” he said. “Rather than sifting through numerous links, users receive a concise summary.”

Quick answers are the main draw for most recent AI health users. Many turn to these tools to assess the level of medical attention they might need.

“It helps me figure out if something’s serious,” Davis said, typically consulting ChatGPT before making any medical appointments.

The Gallup survey indicated that roughly 70% of U.S. adults using AI for health queries wanted quick answers, additional information, or were simply curious. Many utilized the tool for research prior to or following doctor visits.

For instance, Rakesia Wilson, a 39-year-old from Theodore, Alabama, reported using AI to comprehend her lab results after an appointment with an endocrinologist. She regularly checks ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot to determine whether she should take time off work for a doctor’s visit or simply monitor her condition.

“If I feel it’s something minor, I sometimes just don’t have the time,” said Wilson, who sometimes works up to 70 hours a week as an assistant principal.

Although the findings suggest a growing reliance on AI tools, they haven’t stopped people from seeking professional medical care. A separate KFF poll revealed that about 80% of U.S. adults sought out healthcare professionals for information in the past year, while around 30% had engaged with AI tools or chatbots.

Interestingly, some respondents in the Gallup study indicated they resorted to AI because traditional healthcare access was too costly or inconvenient. Approximately 40% wanted assistance outside regular hours, while 30% preferred avoiding doctor visit fees. About 20% reported time constraints or feeling ignored by providers in the past, contributing to their use of AI.

The KFF survey noted that younger adults and lower-income individuals were more inclined to turn to AI tools due to the high costs associated with accessing healthcare.

Public opinion is mixed regarding the trustworthiness of AI medical advice. Experts caution that AI chatbots can occasionally provide inaccurate information, and this concern resonates with users as well. According to the Gallup poll, about one-third of adults expressed some level of trust in AI health information, while a similar proportion distrusted it, leaving another third ambivalent.

Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, an ear, nose, and throat specialist and president of the American Medical Association, appreciates when patients come in with well-informed questions, thanks to their AI research. However, he stressed that AI should be viewed as a supplementary tool, not a replacement for medical care.

“It’s an assistant, not an expert,” he cautioned, emphasizing the need for physician involvement in patient care.

Privacy is another critical concern, as noted by KFF. Approximately 75% of U.S. adults expressed significant apprehensions about the privacy of personal medical data shared with AI tools. Singh pointed out that many AI tools have settings to restrict users’ data use for training future models, but this requires user diligence—a lack of which can lead to repercussions.

Last summer, for example, private ChatGPT conversations were publicly indexed on a website without users’ knowledge, raising alarms.

Tamara Ruppart, a 47-year-old director from Los Angeles, feels fortunate to have family doctors to consult instead of resorting to AI. Given her family history of breast cancer, she believes relying on a chatbot for health queries is too risky.

“Healthcare is serious business,” she remarked. “If the information is wrong, it could really harm you.”