Why many Americans are turning to AI for health advice, according to
recent polls
[April 15, 2026]
By ALI SWENSON and LINLEY SANDERS
NEW YORK (AP) — When Tiffany Davis has a question about a symptom from
the weight-loss injections she’s taking, she doesn’t call her doctor.
She pulls out her phone and consults ChatGPT.
“I’ll just basically let ChatGPT know my status, how I’m feeling,” said
the 42-year-old in Mesquite, Texas. “I use it for anything that I’m
experiencing.”
Turning to artificial intelligence tools for health advice has become a
habit for Davis and many other Americans, according to a Gallup poll
published Wednesday. The poll, conducted in late 2025 and backed up by
at least three other recent surveys with similar findings, found that
roughly one-quarter of U.S. adults had used an AI tool for health
information or advice in the past 30 days.
Dr. Karandeep Singh, chief health AI officer at the University of
California San Diego Health, said AI tools, many of which now
incorporate web search, are an upgraded version of Google health
searches that Americans have been doing for decades.
“I almost view it like a better entry portal into web search,” he said.
“Instead of someone having to comb through the top, you know, 10, 20, 30
links in a web search, they can now have an executive summary.”
Most recent AI health users are looking for quick answers
Most Americans using AI tools for health purposes say they want
immediate answers. In some cases, it helps them evaluate what kind of
medical attention they need.
“It’ll let me know if something’s serious or not,” Davis said of ChatGPT,
which she typically consults before scheduling medical appointments.
The Gallup survey found about 7 in 10 U.S. adults who have used AI for
health research in the past 30 days say they wanted quick answers,
additional information or were simply curious. Majorities used it for
research before seeing a doctor or after an appointment.
Rakesia Wilson, 39, in Theodore, Alabama, said she recently used AI to
better understand her lab results after an endocrinologist visit. She
also regularly uses ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot to decide whether she
needs to take time off for a doctor's appointment or can simply monitor
an ailment.
“I just don’t necessarily have the time if it’s something that I feel is
minor," said Wilson, who said she sometimes works up to 70-hour weeks as
an assistant principal.
Younger adults and lower-income users have used AI to bridge care
gaps
On the whole, the findings suggest that the rise of AI tools hasn't
stopped people from seeking professional medical care. About 8 in 10
U.S. adults say they have sought out a doctor or other health care
professional for health information in the past year, while about 3 in
10 say that about AI tools and chatbots, according to a KFF poll
conducted in late February.
Similarly, a Pew Research Center survey conducted in October found that
about 2 in 10 U.S. adults say they get health information at least
sometimes from AI chatbots, while about 85% said the same about health
care providers.
But there are indications that some Americans are using AI for health
advice because they are struggling to obtain professional medical care,
at a time when federal policy and market factors are worsening health
costs and creating obstacles to access around the country.
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The OpenAI logo is seen on a mobile phone in front of a computer
screen which displays the ChatGPT home Screen, March 17, 2023, in
Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
 A small but significant share of
respondents in the Gallup study say they used AI because accessing
health care was too expensive or inconvenient. About 4 in 10 wanted
help outside of normal business hours, while about 3 in 10 did not
want to pay for a doctor’s visit. Roughly 2 in 10 did not have time
to make an appointment, had felt ignored or dismissed by a provider
in the past or were too embarrassed to talk to a person.
The KFF survey found that younger adults and lower-income people
were more likely to say they used an AI tool or chatbot for health
information because they could not afford the cost of seeing a
provider or were having trouble accessing health care.
Americans are divided on whether AI medical advice can be trusted
Tech experts often warn that AI chatbots don’t think for themselves
— and therefore can sometimes spout false information. Those
concerns have trickled down even to frequent AI users.
About one-third of adults who had recently used AI for health
information said they “strongly” or “somewhat” trust the accuracy of
health information and advice generated by AI tools, according to
the Gallup poll. About the same share, 34%, distrusted it, and
another 33% neither trusted it nor distrusted it.
Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, an ear, nose and throat doctor and the
president of the American Medical Association, said he loves when
patients come in and have “more evolved questions than they used to
have” because they used AI for research. But he said AI should be
considered a tool and not a stand-in for medical care.
“It is an assistant but not an expert, and that’s why physicians
need to be involved in that care,” he said.
There are also concerns about privacy, according to KFF. About
three-quarters of U.S. adults said they are “very concerned” or
“somewhat concerned” about the privacy of personal medical or health
information that people provide to AI tools or chatbots.
Singh, of UC San Diego Health, said most AI tools have settings
users can toggle to prevent their data from being used to train
future models. But that requires user vigilance — and not being
careful can have consequences.
Last summer, for example, internet sleuths on Google discovered
private ChatGPT conversations that had been indexed on a public
website without the users realizing it.
Tamara Ruppart, a 47-year-old director in Los Angeles, said she is
lucky enough to have doctors in her husband’s family that she
contacts instead of turning to AI. With her family history of breast
cancer, using a chatbot for health advice feels too risky.
“Health care is something that’s pretty serious,” she said. “And if
it’s wrong, you could really hurt yourself.”
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Sanders reported from Washington.
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