Chatbots · January 2026Gaffe level: Blunder
AI chatbots miss urgent issues in queries about women's health
Researchers built a benchmark of tricky women's health questions and fed them to 13 leading AI models from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Mistral and xAI. Every model flunked, giving insufficient answers 60% of the time on queries needing urgent attention. Dr. Chatbot's bedside manner needs serious work.
Source: New Scientist
Google's Medical AI Interviewed Real Patients in a First-of-Its-Kind Lancet Study
In the first prospective real-world study of its kind, published in The Lancet, 98 patients at a Boston primary care clinic talked through their symptoms with Google's AMIE chatbot before urgent appointments, with a physician watching every chat. No conversation needed a safety stop, the AI's differential matched the final diagnosis 90% of the time, and doctors said its summaries helped them prepare in three-quarters of cases.
Source: Becker's Hospital Review