Overview
- More than 5% of all ChatGPT messages involve health topics, with over 40 million people seeking information each day, according to OpenAI.
- Users send 1.6 to 1.9 million health insurance questions per week, including plan comparisons, billing issues, claims, prices, and coverage.
- Roughly 70% of health chats occur outside clinic hours, and about 600,000 weekly messages originate from rural hospital deserts in the U.S.
- Independent studies and reporting flag safety risks, including a preprint finding about 13% dangerously inaccurate answers from leading models, while lawsuits allege harm from chatbot interactions.
- OpenAI says upcoming GPT-5 changes will emphasize follow-up questions, web browsing, hedging language, and referrals to professionals, and it plans to publish a healthcare AI regulatory blueprint.