A survey that was conducted toward the end of last year by Gallup and West Health found that a sizeable number of Americans are using AI to supplement their interactions with healthcare providers. However, the specifics of how people used these digital tools varied based on age groups, income level and motivations.
The survey was carried out from October 27 to December 22 in 2025. A total of 5,500 adults participated in the poll that was designed to be nationally representative.
Among those who had used AI in the last 30 days, 59% said they used AI tools to conduct research on their own prior to visiting their doctor. 56% said they used those tools to conduct research after their doctor’s visit. A smaller but notable fraction (14%) of survey respondents indicated that they resorted to AI tools after encountering cost barriers to see their doctor, while 16% said they turned to AI tools after being unable to access a medical professional.
21% of the people polled said they resorted to getting advice from AI after previously feeling ignored or dismissed by their healthcare provider.
The reason for turning to AI notwithstanding, nearly half of the survey respondents expressed being more confident after their interaction with the AI tool and they were better able to ask questions or talk to their doctor. Some, 22%, revealed they identified health issues sooner due to the help of AI while 19% said the information gathered using the AI tools helped them to avoid undergoing unnecessary medical procedures or tests.
Most respondents, 61%, said they used chatbots like Copilot or ChatGPT, while 55% turned to embedded tools in web search engines like Google AI summary.
Among Americans using AI for health-related information, younger people aged between 18 and 29 had the biggest fraction at 69%, while those above 65 years of age using AI for health-related information were 43% among the respondents who consulted AI prior to seeing a medical professional.
The users of AI were seeking information on health symptoms, understanding the medications prescribed, advice on exercise or nutrition, medication side effects, and getting information on diagnosis.
Lower income respondents (14%) had a higher tendency of resorting to AI after being unable to pay for visits to doctors. This is concerning because even if Americans sought AI advice on health-related matters, the survey revealed that 34% of all survey respondents don’t trust AI-generated advice, while 33% were non-committal on whether they trusted the advice provided. Only a paltry 4% expressed complete trust in AI-generated healthcare advice.
This survey shows there is an increasing use of AI for healthcare purposes among recipients of medical care, so stakeholders such as Astiva Health and policymakers need to pay closer attention to this trend and find ways to minimize the possible drawbacks that could result from a huge chunk of the population increasingly using AI on matters of health.
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