OpenAI unveils ChatGPT Health, says 230 million users ask about health each week
OpenAI announced ChatGPT Health on Wednesday, which the company said will offer a dedicated space for users to talk to ChatGPT about their health.
People already use ChatGPT to ask about medical problems; OpenAI says more than 230 million people ask health and wellness questions on the platform every week. But the ChatGPT Health product keeps these conversations out of your other chats. For example, the context of your health is not discussed in standard conversations with ChatGPT.
If people outside the Health section start chatting about their health, the AI wants to nudge them to switch.
Within Health, the AI can reference things you discussed in the standard experience. For example, if you ask ChatGPT for help creating a marathon training plan, the AI will know you’re a runner when you talk about your fitness goals in Health.
ChatGPT Health also integrates with your personal data or medical records from wellness apps like Apple Health, Function, and MyFitnessPal. OpenAI notes that it will not use Health conversations to train its models.
The CEO of Applications at OpenAI, Fidji Simo, wrote in a blog post that she sees ChatGPT Health as an answer to existing healthcare problems, such as cost and access barriers, overbooked physicians and a lack of continuity in care.
While the healthcare system has its drawbacks, using AI chatbots for medical advice presents a whole new set of challenges. Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT work by predicting the most likely answer to prompts, not the most correct answer, because LLMs have no idea what is true or not. AI models are also prone to hallucinations.
In its own terms of service, OpenAI states that it is “not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of any health condition.”
The feature is expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks.
