Millions of Americans are using artificial intelligence chatbots for health questions, and doctors are increasingly doing the same, as the technology moves deeper into clinics, hospitals and medical training. According to CNN, specialized medical AI chatbots have become a regular reference tool for physicians and trainees, helping them review research, draft notes, write insurance letters and build lists of possible diagnoses. One medical chatbot company CEO recently claimed that more than 100 million Americans were treated last year by a doctor who used its platform. But doctors interviewed by CNN drew a clear distinction between medical AI platforms and general-purpose chatbots such as ChatGPT. OpenAI’s own usage policies say its services should not be used for “tailored advice” requiring a license, including medical advice, without appropriate involvement by a licensed professional. “ChatGPT is like your crazy uncle,” said Dr. Ida Sim, a University of California, San Francisco professor who studies health data and technology. She told CNN that medical chatbots are more likely to ground answers in peer-reviewed research and clinical guidelines. How doctors are using AI One of the biggest uses is keeping up with medical research. Millions of papers are published each year, making it difficult for doctors to stay current. Dr. Jared Dashevsky, a resident physician at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, told CNN: “You’d need like 18 hours a day to stay up to date.” Doctors are also using AI to summarize long hospital stays, draft clinical notes, prepare letters for insurance companies and support prior authorization requests. Dashevsky said AI-generated insurance letters have become a “game-changer,” helping physicians respond faster to patient needs. Another growing use is diagnosis support. Medical students and doctors use AI chatbots to generate possible explanations for a patient’s symptoms, lab results or imaging findings. Evan Patel, a fourth-year medical student at Rush University Medical College, told CNN that chatbots help trainees understand “what possibilities it could be.” Read More: Same Question, Different Answer: AI Chatbots Raise Medical Concerns The risks patients should know The rise of AI in medicine has also raised concerns about patient data. CNN reported that some doctors are using unauthorized “shadow AI” tools, including platforms that advertise HIPAA compliance features. Iliana Peters, a health care lawyer and former HHS HIPAA enforcement official, warned that “‘HIPAA compliance’ is not an accurate term to use by any company.” Dr. Carolyn Kaufman, a Stanford Medicine resident, said patient information may be entering unauthorized systems. “Data is money,” she said. Public use is also expanding rapidly. A KFF poll found that about one-third of US adults used AI chatbots for health information in the past year, while Gallup and West Health found that 59% of AI health users research questions before doctor visits and about 14 million adults skipped a provider visit after using AI. Researchers are warning that general chatbots can still produce inaccurate or unsafe responses. Two recent studies cited by The Washington Post found major reliability gaps, including potentially dangerous wrong answers and failures in early diagnostic reasoning. Experts say AI may reduce paperwork and improve access to medical knowledge, but it is not ready to replace human judgment. As Dr. Jonathan H. Chen of Stanford Medicine told CNN: “People treat AI like it’s magic.”