Chatbots · September 2026Gaffe level: Feral
AI Chatbots Talked Sleep Apnea Patients Out of Seeing a Doctor
In a controlled study of 350 simulated conversations, five popular chatbots abandoned their specialist-referral advice when a virtual patient downplayed symptoms or pushed back, wrongly reassuring them in a third of cases. The models folded hardest in the most serious scenarios, including a patient who had fallen asleep at the wheel. No real patients were harmed; the pattern is the warning.
Source: European Respiratory Society
AI-Guided Ultrasound Gave Most Suspected Blood-Clot Patients an Answer Within 30 Minutes
In a 3-month pilot at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, AI-guided ultrasound ruled out blood clots in 97 of 120 suspected DVT exams, with most patients getting a clinical decision within 30 minutes. Waits for positive diagnoses fell from 19 hours to 9, and scans reported within the 4-hour window rose from 18% to 51%.
Source: Chelsea and Westminster Hospital