Millions of us trust Dr. Google already, but now there’s a new online doctor in town.
A British medical student has created an AI chatbot that claims to provide “more reliable health information” than the search engine.
BTRU – pronounced Better You – searches pages of the likes of the World Health Organization to provide users with personalized answers, just like ChatGPT.
Ian Soh, 22, who is in his penultimate year at St George’s Medical Hospital in south London, insists the bot he made is ‘reliable’.
He said: “I believe in a time when people can take control of their health, find reliable health information and understand their health, regardless of their background.”
BTRU – pronounced Better You – was created by 22-year-old medical student Ian Soh
The BTRU founder said he wants his platform to lead to better health advice online
Experts said the answers were wrong and it could cause unnecessary fear
BTRU rejected the idea that men could get pregnant and described male pregnancy as a “subject of science fiction” that “has no basis in reality”
But experts insisted today that AI medical advice will never be able to replace that of a human doctor.
Gynecologist Narendra Pisal said knowing a person’s personal history is “vital” to diagnosis.
Mr Pisa from London’s Private Gynecology Clinic said: ‘This is one of the reasons why AI will not replace medical expertise.
‘Being able to ask relevant questions about the context is so important when making a medical judgment.
“Often this is due to obtaining a detailed history.”
Other experts expressed concern about some of BTRU’s responses.
MailOnline tested the chatbot by asking: ‘I am a man, can I get uterine cancer?’
The bot said men can get cancer in their uterus if they have “a history of high estrogen levels.” It added that the symptoms in men are “vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain and discharge.”
The NHS has quietly omitted the terms ‘women’ and ‘female’ from its webpage on menopause
Here are some examples of the awake language changes that have swept the NHS. Some of these are taken from national NHS communications, while others are used by individual hospitals
Women’s health expert Dr Semiya Aziz, a GP in North London, said: ‘IIt failed to clarify men’s terminology, so it’s an incorrect answer.”
Only biological women can get uterine cancer, because men are not born with it.
However, women who transition to men and are diagnosed with the disease may consider themselves male.
Dr. Aziz added that AI could create “unnecessary anxiety” for people who can’t see a doctor, and could also have an impact on their mental health.
However, the BTRU rejected the idea that men could get pregnant, describing male pregnancy as a “subject of science fiction” that “has no basis in reality.”
An NHS doctor told MailOnline she has seen an increase in people claiming an emotional connection to ‘health robots’.
Dr. Hana Patel, who works as a GP in South East London, said: ‘I’ve already had patients come in with a diagnosis from Dr. Google and expectations about how to manage their symptoms.
“It may be even more difficult to manage patients who trust and feel they have a connection to an AI health robot, especially if it answers a question they have at the time.”
The search function gave various responses to NHS advice pages, which have been criticized for erasing gender-based language.
NHS guidance for menopause is just one of the topics at the center of a gender neutral storm.
The condition used to be described as “when a woman stops menstruating and can no longer conceive naturally.” But it now says, “Menopause is when your period stops because of lower hormone levels.”
The first mention of the term “women” in the new version is found on the fourth page, in a section on drugs to treat the condition.
No such gender-neutral changes have been made in male cancers, such as testicular cancer.
The BTRU founder said he wants his platform to lead to better health advice online.
He said: “I believe in a time when people can take control of their health, find reliable health information and understand their health, regardless of their background,” he added.