Why patients turn to chatbots first: access and trust, not just misinformation
EricTopol · x · 2026-07-28
A Annals of Internal Medicine piece argues that patients often ask chatbots first not because they trust them blindly, but because access and trust in healthcare are both fraying.
- The article says general-purpose LLMs are increasingly the first stop for symptoms, reassurance, and health information.
- It notes real safety issues: studies found high error rates in medical reasoning and triage, so these tools should not be treated as clinicians.
- But warnings about bad advice are incomplete, because they ignore the demand side: delayed appointments, portal dead ends, billing friction, and the desire for fast, private answers.
- The author argues that more AI inside medicine will not restore trust if it becomes just another layer between patients and clinicians.
- The broader fix is structural: improve access, transparency, and trust, rather than framing the problem as misinformation alone.
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