OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health to review your medical records

OpenAI has launched a new ChatGPT feature in the US that can analyze people’s medical records to give them better answers, but campaigners warn this raises privacy concerns.

The company wants people to share their medical records as well as data from apps like MyFitnessPal, which will be analyzed to give personalized advice.

OpenAI said conversations in ChatGPT Health would be stored separately from other chats and would not be used to train its AI tools – while clarifying that they were not intended to be used for “diagnosis or treatment”.

Andrew Crawford, of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a US non-profit, said it was “crucial” to maintain “airtight” safeguards around users’ health information.

It is unclear if or when this feature may be introduced in the UK.

“New AI health tools offer the promise of empowering patients and promoting better health outcomes, but health data is some of the most sensitive information people can share and it must be protected,” Crawford said.

He said AI companies are “scrambling” to find ways to bring more personalization to their services to increase their value.

“Especially as OpenAI plans to explore advertising as a business model, it is crucial that the separation between this type of health data and the memories that ChatGPT captures from other conversations is airtight,” he said.

According to OpenAI, more than 230 million people ask its chatbot questions about their health and well-being every week.

In a blog post, he said ChatGPT Health had “enhanced privacy to protect sensitive data.”

Users can share data from apps like Apple Health, Peloton and MyFitnessPal, as well as provide medical records, which can be used to give more relevant answers to their health questions.

OpenAI said its health feature was designed to “support, not replace, medical care.”

Chatbots and generative AI tools can be prone to generating false or misleading information, often stating it in a very concrete and convincing manner.

But Max Sinclair, chief executive and founder of AI marketing platform Azoma, said OpenAI was positioning its chatbot as a “trusted medical advisor”.

He described the launch of ChatGPT Health as a “watershed moment” that could “reshape both patient care and retail,” influencing not only how people access medical information, but also what they can buy to treat their problems.

Sinclair said the technology could be a “game changer” for OpenAI amid increased competition from rival AI chatbots, particularly Google’s Gemini.

The company said it would initially make Health available to a “small group of early adopters” and opened a waiting list for those who want access.

As well as being unavailable in the UK, it has also not launched in Switzerland and the European Economic Area, where tech companies must follow strict rules when it comes to handling and protecting user data.

But in the United States, Crawford said the launch meant some companies not bound by privacy protections would “collect, share and use people’s health data.”

“Since it is up to each company to set the rules for how health data is collected, used, shared and stored, inadequate data protections and policies can put sensitive health information at real risk,” he said.