I’m a Pediatrician and Here’s the One Thing Everyone Gets Wrong About AI and Kids

From planning a weeknight meal plan in seconds to spinning a bedtime story about the magic of sharing to doling out surprisingly helpful mother-in-law advice, there’s no denying that ChatGPT can streamline family life. But a recent study from the University of Kansas reveals a worrying trend: When it comes to their children’s health, many parents trust AI more than the actual health care professionals.

And that (understandably) has doctors concerned. I chatted with pediatrician Dr. Karen Klawitter about how parents should—and shouldn’t—be using tools like ChatGPT when it comes to their kid’s medical care.

Meet the Expert

Dr. Karen Ann Klawitter is a board-certified pediatrician with over 25 years of experience in diverse healthcare settings. A graduate of Loyola Stritch School of Medicine, Dr. Klawitter completed her pediatric residency at Wright-Patterson AFB Medical Center. Currently, Dr. Klawitter contributes her expertise to Just Answer, providing global pediatric consultations, and serves at Community Health Northwest Florida.

“It is generally not recommended to use ChatGPT for kids’ health questions and often causes more stress and worry to parents,” Dr. Klawitter explains. (Like when my friend noticed her daughter was drinking more water than usual and the chatbot was convinced she had diabetes—she did not.)

To state the obvious, AI isn’t a board-certified pediatrician. It doesn’t actually know your kid—no matter how detailed the prompts are that you feed it.

“Chat GPT is not a doctor with education or years of real-world experience. The responses provided are based on its training data, which is not always accurate or up to date. This can be very misleading to parents,” Dr. Klawitter explains. “It can even generate fabricated and false information that can sound very plausible to the parent on the other side.”

Most importantly, it’s not personalized for your child. “It does not know your kid’s past medical history, family history, allergies—all very relevant information for doctors to make medical decisions.” ChatGPT might recommend Tylenol and rest for your kid's 103 fever, but your doctor would send them to the ER based on a history of febrile seizure and heart condition.

While the pediatrician has serious concerns about using AI for health queries, that’s not to say that there’s no use for the technology at all. You just need to use it for general information rather than health advice that is specific to your child. Think of it as a tool for research that you can then bring to your doctor.

“It may help the parent understand a specific diagnosis and/or condition and further open up dialog with additional questions for the health care provider,” she adds.

Let’s say you suspect your kid has a milk allergy. You could ask ChatGPT for some general information about allergies and common symptoms (gassiness, trouble sleeping) and culprits (yogurt, canned soups), then bring this info to your next doctor’s appointment.

“If used correctly, it can be a useful tool in healthcare but it is not a replacement for an actual doctor's medical advice,” says Dr. Klawitter.

Oh and one more thing: Do not use ChatGPT for emergency situations. It’s not designed for that, the pediatrician stresses, and advises parents to always call emergency services instead.

Bottom line: ChatGPT can be a helpful tool but it’s not a replacement for following up with a real-life pediatrician. Because while AI can definitely help you outsource annoying family tasks, your kid’s health shouldn’t be one of them.