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Artificial intelligence has officially entered the chat … and lately, it’s been giving dietary advice.

From calorie calculators to full meal plans, more people are turning to tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini to answer questions traditionally handled in clinical settings. This is both fascinating and concerning. While AI can technically make nutrition advice more accessible, it also blurs the line between education and nutrition counseling in ways we’re not fully prepared for.

Lawmakers have already stepped in to regulate AI “therapists” for mental health, and Illinois recently went so far as to ban AI from offering therapeutic decision making. But nutrition chatbots remain largely unregulated, even as more people use them to manage chronic conditions like diabetes, obesity and fatty liver disease, among others.

The question remains whether AI can safely act as a dietitian.

Recent studies suggest AI is decent at giving rudimentary nutritional advice but falls short on personalized and clinical judgment, struggling to account for medical history, lifestyle and individual needs.

A 2024 study evaluating ChatGPT’s dietary guidance for noncommunicable diseases found its accuracy ranged from about 55% to 73%, depending on the condition. For cases like fatty liver disease, responses were fairly........

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