OpenAI once again makes the case for giving ChatGPT your health records
OpenAI is rolling out its dedicated health experience, ChatGPT Health, to users who are 18 years or older and live in the US. The company
OpenAI is rolling out its dedicated health experience, ChatGPT Health, to users who are 18 years or older and live in the US. The company began testing ChatGPT Health in January in a separate portal, but this updated version lets ChatGPT reference relevant health data in any conversation. The new feature is designed to go beyond the chatbot's existing ability to answer health-related questions — something OpenAI claims its new GPT-5.6 Sol model improves — and grounds responses in personal data from doctors' notes, blood tests and more. You can connect your data via ChatGPT's new Health tab, where OpenAI will guide you through linking the chatbot to Apple Health (via the company's Healthkit framework) and providers like Kaiser Permanente or One Medical.
ChatGPT can also prompt you to review any current conditions you might have, medications you're taking and your family's history of illness to make sure it's interpreting everything correctly. From there, OpenAI suggests you can revisit the Health tab to browse your records, view recent health trends and see suggested prompts to ask ChatGPT, but the main thrust of ChatGPT Health happens anytime your health is relevant to a chat. OpenAI is (appropriately) careful to frame its responses as a way to summarize an appointment, understand test results and be a better patient, but that doesn't stop anyone from asking for more direct advice from the chatbot.
ChatGPT is still capable of making mistakes, and anything it says shouldn't be considered diagnosis or official treatment, even if the chatbot offers it confidently. Privacy is also a major concern worth considering when sharing things like health records. Like when it originally announced ChatGPT Health, OpenAI says your medical information is not used to train foundation models or target, regardless of your other settings. You can also decide when ChatGPT can use health information you've connected, forcing the chatbot to ask every time it wants to use your data. Any health information you've connected can be disconnected at any time. The timing of OpenAI's announcement is undeniably unfortunate.
The company is currently being sued by a pastor who alleges that ChatGPT offered dangerous medical recommendations that led him to not seek treatment for a pulmonary embolism. The company is also embroiled in a separate lawsuit with Apple. That, at the very least, makes its reliance on Apple Health as a major data source awkward. OpenAI obviously doesn't have a say in all the legal fights it's embroiled in, but you can certainly decide you don't feel comfortable giving ChatGPT your medical information.
The BriefWire