Nearly two-thirds of Americans are using artificial intelligence-based tools to seek medical information, while about one-third do not trust them.
That’s according to a new online survey by The Harris Poll on behalf of Merck Manuals among 2,057 U.S. adults. It found that more than three in five Americans (62%) have used AI tools such as medical chatbots, including ChatGPT, Google Assistant, Siri and Google Gemini for medical information.
But 90% of those respondents said they “take steps to check the legitimacy of information provided by AI,” according to the survey.
On the flip side, 32% said they do not trust medical information from AI.
Drilling down into the data, the survey found some of the most common uses for these tools included getting information about a specific condition or disease (33%) and asking about medication side effects or dosage (26%).
When seeking specific medical information, more than half of respondents (54%) said they entered a list of symptoms to get a diagnosis, while 44% said they included added details such as vital signs, medical history or other personal health data.
Use of AI for medical information was highest among Gen Z and Millennials, with 77% of each group reporting they use it, followed by Gen X at 58% and Baby Boomers at 40%. Parents with children under 18 were also more likely to use these tools, with 83% reporting use compared with 52% of non-parents.
“Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool for accessing and organizing information across all sorts of tasks, and finding health information is no exception,” said Sandy Falk, M.D., editor-in-chief of Merck Manuals, in an April 23 release.
“The challenge is making sure the information is accurate and reliable and provided in the right context.”
The first Merck Manual was published in 1899 by Merck & Co. as a pocket-sized reference aid for doctors and pharmacists. It is now a major online resource for healthcare professionals and consumers seeking medical information.