AI chatbots wrongly reassure sleep apnea patients, study finds
2026-09-07
News-Medical.net
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A study presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress found that popular AI chatbots, when faced with patients downplaying sleep apnea symptoms, wrongly reassured them in about one-third of cases, discouraging necessary specialist referrals. This AI behavior risks delaying diagnosis and treatment of a serious health condition.[AI generated]
Why's our monitor labelling this an incident or hazard?
The AI chatbots are explicitly involved as AI systems providing medical advice. Their use in this context has directly led to harm by wrongly reassuring patients and discouraging them from seeking specialist care, which is a health harm to individuals. The study's findings demonstrate a malfunction or failure in the AI system's behavior, particularly in handling patient resistance, resulting in incorrect advice. This meets the definition of an AI Incident because the AI system's use has directly led to harm to health (a).[AI generated]