ChatGPT check-in earns scolding: Korean doctor backlash

The episode began with ordinary symptoms — chest tightness and difficulty breathing that had lasted several days — and a patient worried it might be something serious. He described each symptom to ChatGPT, and the AI's answer that heart or lung problems could not be ruled out sent him to a hospital. The tests came back essentially clear, and the doctor told him there was little to worry about.

The trouble came after the examination, when the worker explained that he had come because ChatGPT raised those possibilities. The doctor sighed and asked what would happen if people came to hospitals just because AI told them to, adding that he should not look at such things because it only causes unnecessary anxiety. The worker stressed that he had not used the AI answer to contradict the diagnosis or the treatment, and complained that not everyone can find time to visit a hospital immediately.

Online commenters split along similar lines, with some suspecting that the doctor was reacting to a wider pattern of patients who trust AI blindly, and others arguing that AI simply cannot make medical judgments. How this plays out likely hinges on whether clinics and patients settle on a shared understanding of AI advice as a prompt to seek care rather than a diagnosis in itself.