Google used to be the go-to service for people who wanted to learn about their health conditions. The situation has been slowly changing as more and more users are turning to AI for their health-related questions.
According to a new study from the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America, nearly one in four US adults have used an AI tool or chatbot to get health-related information or advice. The findings are based on a nationally representative survey of more than 5,500 adults conducted between October and December 2025.
The good news is that most people don’t replace their doctors with chatbots. More than half of AI healthcare users say they use it to supplement their care, by doing their own research before a visit or making sense of what their doctor told them afterward.
So why are people turning to AI for health questions?
Speed and curiosity are two of the biggest reasons why people are turning to AI for their health-related questions. According to the survey, among people who use AI to get health advice, 71% said they want faster answers, while another 71% want more information. About 67% simply wanted to know what the AI would say.
| Section | The reason | US adult AI health users |
| Quick and self-directed research | I wanted answers quickly | 71% |
| “ | I wanted more information | 71% |
| “ | I wanted to know what the AI would say | 67% |
| “ | I prefer to research on my own before seeing a doctor | 59% |
| “ | I prefer to research on my own after seeing a doctor | 56% |
| Cost constraints | I didn’t want to pay for a doctor’s visit | 27% |
| “ | I couldn’t afford a doctor’s trip | 14% |
| Barriers to access | I didn’t have time to make an appointment | 21% |
| “ | I could not reach a doctor or a provider | 16% |
| “ | I wanted help outside of normal business hours | 42% |
| Quality barriers and discrimination | I have felt dismissed or ignored by a provider in the past | 21% |
| “ | I was too shy to talk to anyone | 18% |
That said, not everyone who uses AI in healthcare does so by choice. Among recent users, 27% said they turned to AI because they didn’t want to pay for a doctor’s visit, and 14% said they couldn’t afford it at all.
Do people trust AI with health information?
Reliance on AI health information is divided almost entirely into three. About one third of recent users trust it, a third are neutral, and a third do not trust it. 4% are very confident, and about 11% say AI has actually given them advice they believe is unsafe.
4% may seem like a small number, but increase it, and you will see that several million people completely trust AI with their life, and that is not a good result.
What should be done about it?
It’s clear that you can’t use a blanket rule to stop people from using AI to get health advice. If the survey gives us any indication, it is that we need to improve the provision of health care and access to doctors, so that people do not depend on other means.
AI companies also have to play a big role here, making sure they tag each health-related answer with a disclaimer for doctors to see. Services like Perplexity Health and Copilot Health should become mainstream so that people can at least rely on specially trained AI programs to provide accurate health guidance.