In a significant move aimed at the healthcare sector, the artificial intelligence research company OpenAI has officially unveiled a new feature for its popular chatbot. Called ChatGPT Health, this tool is designed to serve as a dedicated platform for users seeking information and guidance related to their health and wellness.
What is ChatGPT Health and How Does It Work?
The San Francisco-based startup revealed that this feature was developed in collaboration with medical professionals. The core idea is to empower individuals to play a more active role in understanding and managing their personal health. OpenAI highlighted that health-related inquiries are already among the most frequent uses of ChatGPT, with a staggering over 230 million people globally asking health and wellness questions every single week.
ChatGPT Health aims to build on this existing usage by providing responses that are informed by the user's specific health context. Users will have the option to securely connect their medical records and popular wellness applications. Supported apps include Apple Health, Function, and MyFitnessPal. Once connected, the AI can assist with various tasks such as interpreting recent lab test results, helping users prepare for upcoming doctor's appointments, offering tailored advice on diet and exercise routines, and even analyzing the pros and cons of different insurance plans based on individual healthcare patterns.
Security and Privacy: A Top Priority
Given the highly sensitive nature of health data, OpenAI has placed a strong emphasis on security for this new feature. The company states that ChatGPT Health is built with "additional, layered protections." While all conversations and files within ChatGPT are encrypted by default, Health conversations will receive extra safeguards.
These conversations will be "protected and compartmentalised," meaning they will be kept separate from other chats. Crucially, OpenAI has confirmed that data from ChatGPT Health interactions will not be used to train the company's foundational AI models. Furthermore, health-specific memories are stored separately and will not influence or appear in non-health related chats. Users retain complete control, with the ability to view or delete these health memories at any time.
How to Access and Use the New Feature
Access to ChatGPT Health is currently being rolled out via a waitlist. Interested users must sign up to request access. Once granted, they can find the feature by selecting 'Health' from the sidebar within the ChatGPT interface. It is important to note that, at launch, integrations for medical records and some apps are only available for users in the United States.
OpenAI also mentions that users can add custom instructions within the Health section. This allows individuals to guide the AI on what topics to focus on or avoid, and even influence the tone and framing of the responses they receive, making the experience more personalised.
The launch of ChatGPT Health marks a major step in the integration of AI into personal healthcare management, promising a more informed and data-driven approach for millions of users worldwide.
