Physicians Worry Patients Could Be Getting Poor Health Information from AI

Patients are increasingly engaging with artificial intelligence (AI) sources for health information – without physician input or guidance – leaving some physicians concerned about the quality of the information. As a result, some Texas physicians ask patients about their use of AI for medical information.

“My biggest concern is that patients replacing conventional resources with AI are basically rejecting the idea of ‘choosing the harder right over the easier wrong,’” said Austin psychiatrist Thomas Kim, MD. “I believe chatbots represent an easier wrong more likely than not in health care.”

Dr. Kim – a member of the Texas Medical Association (TMA) Council on Science and Public Health and a consultant to the Committee on Health Information Technology (HIT) and Augmented Intelligence – sees an “alarming level” of patients turning to AI for mental health information. He suggests physicians can keep an eye on this through meaningful conversations in the exam room.

Data validates Dr. Kim’s concerns. About one in eight U.S. teens and young adults uses AI chatbots for mental health advice, with use most common among people ages 18 to 21, according to a November 2025 study in JAMA Network Open.

The problem, Dr. Kim says, is AI chatbots often lack evidence-based interventions, ethical oversight, and human judgment – nuances he worries missing out on can put patients at risk of harm.

In 2025, researchers from Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered AI found some AI therapy bots showed heightened stigma toward certain behavioral health conditions, provided unsafe guidance, and failed to recognize suicide risks among users.

Dr. Kim wants patients to understand why physicians might ask about their AI usage just as they would ask about other issues like access to firearms or whether they’re experiencing neglect or abuse.

Doing so “builds trust, safety, and explores topics that are causing patients distress,” he said.

“It’s important for all to understand the world is rapidly changing, and we can’t bury our heads,” Dr. Kim said, as physicians engage with patients truthfully and authentically. “If a patient says an AI chatbot is the only one that understands them, that is a complicated situation that should be addressed in a meaningful way,” he said.

Dallas pediatrician Joseph Schneider, MD, also suggests patients tell their physicians when they have consulted AI for health guidance. The past chair and current consultant to the TMA Committee on HIT and Augmented Intelligence says if physicians know when patients used an AI tool that was not trained by that physician or their practice, they should ask the patient to bring their AI conversations to their in-person appointments, so the two can review the information together.

Dr. Kim recognizes patients might use AI due to systemic factors – like affordability or travel distance to an appointment – though he worries patients using the tools can put themselves at risk of harm.

TMA consistently emphasizes preservation of patient safety, ethical use of technology, and physician leadership in emerging health innovations.

While such technology tools might seem like an easy shortcut to medical answers, doctors maintain a traditional conversation with the physician is the best bet.

TMA is the largest state medical society in the nation, representing more than 60,000 physician and medical student members. It is in Austin and has 110 component county medical societies around the state. TMA’s key objective since 1853 is to improve the health of all Texans.