With 230 Million Weekly Health Queries, Is ChatGPT The World’s Most Used Doctor Or A Growing Health Risk?

OpenAI’s new ChatGPT Health puts a dedicated health tab inside ChatGPT, a space where users can upload medical records, link wellness apps, and ask questions about tests, treatment options, and everyday wellbeing. OpenAI says more than 230 million health and wellness questions are asked on the platform each week, and the new product aims to organise and protect that traffic while promising not to use health conversations to train models. That scale is striking: hundreds of millions turning to a conversational AI for health guidance signals a huge unmet need in the real world, long wait times, expensive care, patchy follow-up, and it explains why people treat chatbots like first responders for symptoms and anxiety. OpenAI positions ChatGPT Health as a way

to improve access, interpretation, and preparation for clinical visits.

But scale also hides risks. Large language models don’t “know” medical truth; they predict plausible text. That makes them vulnerable to confident-sounding errors or “hallucinations,” and researchers have repeatedly found chatbots can repeat or embellish false medical claims, sometimes dangerously. A 2025 study from Mount Sinai and follow-up analyses flagged how easily chatbots can propagate medical misinformation, underscoring the need for guardrails. So what should readers take away? First, ChatGPT can be a powerful triage and explanation tool, interpreting lab jargon, suggesting questions to bring to a doctor, or helping patients organize records. Evidence also shows AI can be more empathetic in tone than some clinical interactions, which matters to users. Second, it’s not a replacement for licensed clinical judgment. OpenAI itself says the product isn’t intended for diagnosis or treatment, and clinicians warn that inaccurate AI advice can delay care or mislead patients. For now, the safest use is complementary: use ChatGPT to clarify and prepare, but confirm important decisions with clinicians and trusted sources.

Lastly, the rollout raises policy and equity questions: who is responsible when AI advice harms someone? How will regulators and healthcare systems integrate, or police, these tools? The arrival of ChatGPT Health is a milestone, but the real test will be whether it reduces harm while expanding access — not merely whether it becomes the world’s most-used “doctor.”