OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health to review your medical records

5 hours ago Share Save Liv McMahon Technology reporter Share Save

Getty Images

OpenAI has launched a new ChatGPT feature in the US which can analyse people's medical records to give them better answers, but campaigners warn it raises privacy concerns. The firm wants people to share their medical records along with data from apps like MyFitnessPal, which will be analysed to give personalised advice. OpenAI said conversations in ChatGPT Health would be stored separately to other chats and would not be used to train its AI tools - as well as clarifying it was not intended to be used for "diagnosis or treatment". Andrew Crawford, of US non-profit the Center for Democracy and Technology, said it was "crucial" to maintain "airtight" safeguards around users' health information.

It is unclear if or when the 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 firms were "leaning hard" into finding ways to bring more personalisation to their services to boost value. "Especially as OpenAI moves to explore advertising as a business model, it's crucial that separation between this sort of health data and 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 wellbeing every week. In a blog post, it 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 responses to their health queries. OpenAI said its health feature was designed to "support, not replace, medical care".

'Watershed moment'