People who often use AI chatbots for health answers believe myths about vaccines, a poll found

A new poll found that people in the US who often ask AI chatbots for health information are more likely to believe false things about vaccines. This poll was done by a health research company called KFF.

The survey asked 2,480 adults in the US. It showed that using AI tools like chatbots was connected to believing untrue stories. For example, some people believed that vaccines cause autism or that the measles vaccine is more dangerous than the measles illness itself. This connection was true even when looking at age, race, education, and political views.

Many people are now using AI chatbots for medical questions. One poll showed that about one-third of US adults get health advice from AI. OpenAI, the company that made ChatGPT, said that health questions are very popular on their tool.

The KFF poll also discovered that 35% of people who use AI for health information weekly believe the myth that MMR vaccines cause autism. Only 20% of people who do not use AI for health believe this myth. This untrue idea is a big part of the anti-vaccine movement.

The poll also found that 29% of frequent AI users believe mRNA vaccines can change DNA, which is not true. This is compared to only 20% of people who never use AI. Also, 22% of frequent AI users think the measles vaccine is more dangerous than the measles virus, but only 15% of people who don't use AI for health think this.