A.I.

The problem with your new AI doctor

OpenAI and Anthropic are racing to become America's health advisor, and not everyone's buying into it

ByJackie Snow

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Published Yesterday|Updated 6 hours ago

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A year ago, Alex P., a writer in his mid-40s, had a calcium score that put him in the "moderate risk" category for heart disease. His doctors prescribed statins and moved on. But something nagged at him: The test appeared to show nearly all the buildup concentrated in one artery — the left anterior descending, nicknamed the "widowmaker" because blockages there are so often fatal. His doctors told him not to read too much into it. That's not how the test works, they said.

So he did what hundreds of millions of people do every week. He asked ChatGPT.

The chatbot disagreed with his doctors. A high concentration of calcification in the LAD at his age could indicate serious risk, it told him. Take it literally. After months of pushing multiple physicians, Alex finally got a CT scan. It revealed a 95% blockage, exactly where the original test suggested. He........

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