Two Polls Find Declining Trust In and Use of AI in Gathering Health Information by Patients

A new poll from the Pew Research Center found that “Americans turn to healthcare providers the most when it comes to accurate medical advice.” CIDRAP has the news.

The poll found that only 36% of respondents have used social media and a mere 22% have used AI chatbots to gather health information. Half of Americans found it “at least somewhat difficult to judge if health information is accurate.” 95% of the adults who get health advice from a provider found that advice “extremely or somewhat accurate.” It was also important to most people polled that their “health information sources have medical training” and that the advice is “easy to understand.”

Having health insurance also plays a major role in accessing health advice; the uninsured are “more likely to use digital media for health advice.”

A different poll, from the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, showed overall “declining trust in AI, with the 1,000 poll respondents saying their belief that AI can make some health processes more efficient falling from 64% in 2024 to 55% in 2025.” Just over half of the poll respondents said they use AI to make medical decisions.