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A researcher writing in Medical Xpress says older adults can use AI chatbots and voice assistants to access and clarify health information, but should approach responses with “informed skepticism.” Survey findings cited in the report point to widespread use without routine verification, while risks include inaccurate advice and privacy exposure.
A researcher writing in Medical Xpress says older adults can use AI chatbots and voice assistants as a convenient source of health information, but should apply “informed skepticism” by checking responses rather than accepting them at face value. The report highlights both the tools’ potential to explain complex topics and the risks of inaccurate medical guidance and exposed personal information.
The report’s author studies how people interact with technology, including how older adults use voice assistants and AI chatbots. They describe benefits such as quick responses, plain-language explanations and the ability to ask sensitive questions privately. These features may help people understand health topics while waiting for an appointment or navigating a large amount of online information.
The report cites a 2025 survey of 300 adults in which about one in five respondents said they used AI chatbots to ask health questions. A separate poll conducted by the author and colleagues found that one in two older adults reported using chatbots or voice assistants, and about 14% of that group used them to access health information. These figures describe the surveys cited in the report; they do not establish usage rates for all older adults.
Risks include chatbots giving incorrect or misleading health information, misclassifying conditions or offering advice that is too agreeable to the user’s assumptions. The author says a chatbot’s fluent answer can sound reliable even when it is wrong. The report also cautions that public chatbot services may retain prompts, recommending that users avoid sharing personally identifiable information.
Health Answers Without a Clinic Visit
For older adults managing chronic conditions or new diagnoses, health questions can arise outside scheduled appointments. A chatbot may provide a fast explanation or help someone formulate questions for a clinician. At home, these tools can also give users a sense of greater control over health information, the report says.
But convenience can create a false sense of confidence. If users treat a chatbot as a medical authority, an incorrect answer could affect decisions or delay professional care. The report’s central point is not that older adults should avoid AI, but that the usefulness of the tools depends on checking the quality of their answers and recognizing their limits.
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How Older Adults Use AI
The report challenges the stereotype that older adults are uniformly unfamiliar with technology. It describes older people using familiar voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa, as well as chatbots including ChatGPT and other mainstream or health-specific services. The author says their research found that older users may prefer to begin and finish a search on the same device, while younger adults may be more likely to use an AI response as a starting point for further searching.
That difference matters because checking an answer often requires leaving the chatbot or switching to another source. The report says users rarely verify chatbot output: in the cited 2025 survey, four in five health-chatbot users said they never checked the responses. The report also points to the Aging with AI Act, introduced in the U.S. Senate in 2026, as an example of growing policy attention to AI’s effects on older adults.
““informed skepticism””
— The report’s author, a researcher studying older adults’ technology use
Limits of the Survey Evidence
The figures in the report come from surveys, including one with 300 adults; the supplied material does not give enough detail to establish that these results represent the wider population. It also does not specify how often older adults rely on chatbots instead of clinicians, or how frequently chatbot answers cause harm.
The report describes risks and practical strategies but does not provide comparative clinical evidence showing that chatbot use improves health outcomes. The accuracy of responses can vary by question and service, and the material does not identify a single chatbot as reliable for medical decisions. How providers retain and use prompts can also depend on the service and its settings.
Checking Answers Before Acting
The report recommends using available source and information-quality features to inspect where chatbot responses come from, and comparing health claims with trustworthy published sources. Users can also ask a clinician or pharmacist about information that could affect treatment or urgent care. A chatbot response should not be treated as a diagnosis or a substitute for professional medical advice.
For privacy, the author advises against entering identifying details into public chatbot services. The report also notes that people can learn how to opt out of AI features in search tools; it gives adding “-ai” to a Google search query as one way to remove AI content from results. Further research and policy discussion, including attention to the 2026 Aging with AI Act, may clarify how older adults use these tools and how their benefits and risks should be addressed.
Key Questions
Can older adults use chatbots for health information?
Yes. The report describes chatbots and voice assistants as potentially useful for quick explanations and health questions, while stressing that users should check answers carefully and not treat them as medical authorities.
What does “informed skepticism” mean?
It means staying open to information a chatbot provides while checking its sources and credibility rather than assuming the response is correct.
What risks does the report identify?
Chatbots may give inaccurate advice, misclassify health conditions or agree with a user’s assumptions. Public services may also retain prompts, so the report advises against sharing identifying personal information.
How common is health chatbot use, according to the report?
A 2025 survey cited by the report found about one in five of 300 adults had asked a chatbot a health question. A separate poll found about 14% of older adults who reported using chatbots or voice assistants accessed health information. These survey results are not necessarily representative of all adults.
Source: medicalxpress.com
