Elon Musk is urging people to use Grok for medical advice after a man claimed it helped to ‘cure’ a chronic illness.
Grok is an AI chatbot created by Musk’s xAI that was first previewed back in November 2023.
Early access to the bot was given to paying premium users of Musk’s social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
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Grok is also available to use on X, with one man taking to the platform to share a friend’s apparent experience using the AI bot.
The user wrote: “My close physician friend just messaged me-this is amazing: He had been following a patient with a chronic disease for many years, trying various treatments to no avail. He recently uploaded all the data to Grok, which suggested a specific treatment. Now, the patient seems cured!”
Musk himself retweeted the post, adding: “Try using @Grok for a second opinion on medical matters!”
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Others took to the comment section to give their own thoughts on the chatbot’s medical capabilities, with some sharing the same sentiment.
One user wrote: “Grok is my closest friend now. Answers all my questions in record time with no BS, just facts. About anything and everything above and beyond expectations that I had imagined.”
And another said: “I recently uploaded my blood work for Grok to analyze, and got some great feedback. Generally, I think I chat more with Grok than most people I interact with.”
However, not everyone was as convinced by the technology, with others sharing their concern that people are relying on AI to treat them instead of a doctor.
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One person wrote: “Ummm that’s crazy to rely on an AI for medical advices.”
Another commented: “How can you suggest something like this for medical matters? This is irresponsible statement considering impact of your statements (followership).
“We would take second opinion from another doctor, not Grok unless Grok is certified for medical treatment. Grok can be used to understand the disease or treatment.”
A third user added: “Grok is cool but don't recommend using the internet or AI for medical advice. The results can be scary.”
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A fourth user asked: “Can we really trust it? If I had trusted Google with medical advice, I’d probably be long gone by now.”
And a fifth user seemed to be having difficulty even getting a reply, writing: “Grok isn't even responding.”
It seems fair to note that medical advice should always be taken up with a professional - and I’m not sure if Grok is quite certified just yet!