Can AI take over the bulk of what General Practitioners do?

This discussion comes at the right moment. OpenAI has just launched ChatGPT Health, a brand new offering whose stated aim is to "support professional health care, not replace it". According to what they say, more than 260 physicians were consulted during its development. Beyond that one-line description, I have no further information about it.


https://openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-health
 
BioDad said:

This discussion comes at the right moment. OpenAI has just launched ChatGPT Health, a brand new offering whose stated aim is to "support professional health care, not replace it". According to what they say, more than 260 physicians were consulted during its development. Beyond that one-line description, I have no further information about it.


https://openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-health
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Huh?!?! I shell out every month for my chatgpt and think it's incredible bang for the buck, clicking the li k right now thanks!
 
From my own experience, ChatGPT has been the most reliably correct when it comes to analyzing bloodwork. I've uploaded lab results and requested that both standard and optimal ranges be taken into account. I could easily verify the results myself, and they turned out to be accurate.

I was also quite happy to see that CGPT could identify ratios that were drifting toward abnormal—something the lab hadn't flagged, and I wouldn't have had the know-how to spot on my own. Once again, I checked those independently.

We're assuming our GPs have memorized every lab range that fits our age, gender, and personal health history, which just isn't the reality.
 
The real issue isn't whether this will occur—it's a matter of timing. This outcome is unavoidable. If reaching bio singularity among humans is certain, then it follows that genuinely personalized, individual medicine—the purest kind—requires AI.
 
mraajr said:

I never imagined I would be posing this, but over the past few days, after discussing my latest bloodwork with Claude.AI, it seems obvious to me that AI handling a large share of GP duties is bound to happen. The fast replies, precision, care plans, and so on have all proven incredibly helpful. I have been far more impressed than expected and will definitely keep turning to it for quick guidance.

Naturally, I believe something like medicine will forever (or at least for the foreseeable future) require a human component. People from older generations, raised long before the internet era, will find it tougher to adapt. That is not a criticism, just a largely instinctive response. Yet younger people who grow up surrounded by this technology will almost certainly have far less difficulty accepting medical guidance from a computer.

Might AI eventually take over most GP-style roles? Might insurers start using AI to remove them from the process entirely and issue direct specialist referrals when necessary? Might it even reach a stage where it can prescribe certain medications? Or are there other applications in this setting that I have not considered?
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For my medical conditions, I rely on AI fairly often. What I've found is that it gives me the knowledge I need to engage in meaningful discussions with the people treating me. The information it provides is sharp, and on multiple occasions it has assisted my primary doctor in shaping treatment plans that grew out of our conversations.

There is one frustration, though: AI holds back from issuing firm conclusions that would overrule a physician's choices. Right now I'm dealing with iron problems. I'm using the pro tiers of Gemini and ChatGPT. When my doctor proposes methods and options, these tools lay out the advantages and drawbacks. Gemini tends to push back harder on my doctor's approach when it doesn't agree, yet both of my paid AI apps stay neutral once I share lab results and appointment notes.

AI teaches me about my bloodwork, points to variables I can influence, and tells me what topics to raise with my doctor and why I might feel worried about or supportive of their plans.

I've asked both Gemini and ChatGPT to step into the role of my doctor and offer their own treatment plans. Gemini leans in further than ChatGPT does, but it still warns that "AI can make mistakes" and stops short of taking action on my behalf as a primary physician.

Still, the learning I get from AI is remarkable. It makes my conversations with my doctor far more productive.

I haven't tried Claude at all, but now my curiosity is piqued.
 
When I brought up GLP1s with my GP — my BMI was 35+ and my blood pressure was high — her response was a blank "What's that?"... She asked for time to research it before advising me (understandable), but when I came back 6 months later for my next check up, she had "forgotten about it". I haven't gone back since.
 
Ascojoerg said:

When I brought up GLP1s with my GP — my BMI was 35+ and my blood pressure was high — her response was a blank "What's that?"... She asked for time to research it before advising me (understandable), but when I came back 6 months later for my next check up, she had "forgotten about it". I haven't gone back since.
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Is she living underneath a rock or something?

Perhaps saying "the weight loss shots" — the technical medical phrase — would have worked better 🤣

That is the moment you realize, without a doubt, that finding a different GP is overdue.
 
Grogu said:

Ascojoerg said:

When I brought up GLP1s with my GP — my BMI was 35+ and my blood pressure was high — her response was a blank "What's that?"... She asked for time to research it before advising me (understandable), but when I came back 6 months later for my next check up, she had "forgotten about it". I haven't gone back since.
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Is she living underneath a rock or something?

Perhaps saying "the weight loss shots" — the technical medical phrase — would have worked better 🤣

That is the moment you realize, without a doubt, that finding a different GP is overdue.
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Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if she did. In the end, I laid out for her what GLP1s actually are, mentioning Tirz, Sema, and the options Novo and Lilly sell. For maybe half a second she perked up as she jotted it into her notepad. Sadly, the second I left the room, that was it — no further curiosity at all.
 
Ascojoerg said:

Grogu said:

Ascojoerg said:

When I brought up GLP1s with my GP — my BMI was 35+ and my blood pressure was high — her response was a blank "What's that?"... She asked for time to research it before advising me (understandable), but when I came back 6 months later for my next check up, she had "forgotten about it". I haven't gone back since.
Click to expand...

Is she living underneath a rock or something?

Perhaps saying "the weight loss shots" — the technical medical phrase — would have worked better 🤣

That is the moment you realize, without a doubt, that finding a different GP is overdue.
Click to expand...
Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if she did. In the end, I laid out for her what GLP1s actually are, mentioning Tirz, Sema, and the options Novo and Lilly sell. For maybe half a second she perked up as she jotted it into her notepad. Sadly, the second I left the room, that was it — no further curiosity at all.
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Considering your BMI was 35 and you had a weight-related complication, you would imagine this borders on malpractice, or at minimum falls short of acceptable care. It's difficult to justify complete ignorance of a whole drug class that leads clinical guidelines and is covered heavily in mainstream medical news.

Back in Nov 2024, when I visited my GP and requested sema, luckily my GP knew enough to tell me about tirzepatide and that it was the better option. He still refused to prescribe compounded tirz, but at least he pointed me in the right direction.
 
I fed my blood test results into 4 separate AI systems, and included my age, race, gender, and the medications I'm on (Finasteride, Tirz). Every one of them produced thorough responses, and their conclusions lined up with one another. I don't see any way a physician could have outperformed that. People lose track of details and can't handle 130 data points at once, no matter how high their IQ is.
 
FartfulCodger said:

I fed my blood test results into 4 separate AI systems, and included my age, race, gender, and the medications I'm on (Finasteride, Tirz). Every one of them produced thorough responses, and their conclusions lined up with one another. I don't see any way a physician could have outperformed that. People lose track of details and can't handle 130 data points at once, no matter how high their IQ is.
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That's only the current state. Picture what happens once AI gets placed into robotic bodies built to perform particular tasks.
 
Smiter said:

FartfulCodger said:

I fed my blood test results into 4 separate AI systems, and included my age, race, gender, and the medications I'm on (Finasteride, Tirz). Every one of them produced thorough responses, and their conclusions lined up with one another. I don't see any way a physician could have outperformed that. People lose track of details and can't handle 130 data points at once, no matter how high their IQ is.
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That's only the current state. Picture what happens once AI gets placed into robotic bodies built to perform particular tasks.
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And if your health calls for it, your robot helper will hold you down, bend you over, and administer an enema. What a future to look forward to!
 
FartfulCodger said:


And your robotic assistant will forcibly bend you over and give you an enema if your health needs warrant it. Good times ahead!

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I get why you're thinking along those lines. Your profile indicates Florida as your location, yet is it possible you've been to California or NY lately?
 
My wife had a skin problem that two doctors and two visits were needed to solve. The second dermatologist gave the same most likely diagnosis that AI had produced.
 
Throughout my Tirz journey I've relied on Gemini, and it's been a big help — most recently when I was weighing whether to switch to a 6 day rotation instead of 7, it laid out the pros and cons really well.

I'm on the verge of firing my current (new) PCP. He only cares about billable codes, disregards what I say, and just wants to march through his checklists of what someone my age "needs." As I transition into Medicare, which doesn't require you to have a PCP, I'm increasingly inclined to pair doc-in-the-box or telehealth as needed with Gemini for reference. Personally, the standard model of annual "Wellness Visits" with a doctor doesn't do much of anything for me.
 
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