Mumbai: In an incident that has sent shockwaves through the healthcare industry and set new precedents in today’s evolving AI age, a doctor reportedly sent back a patient who had already consulted Gemini and ChatGPT, advising him to first discuss his symptoms with his relatives and neighbours.
It is a well-known fact that medicine is increasingly becoming a team sport in India, with many qualified people available in every Indian family and housing society. It is becoming common for patients to first present their AI-generated differentials, Google prescriptions, screenshots and family WhatsApp polls in the OPD, before actually describing their symptoms as part of the history-taking process. Patients are increasingly not looking for a diagnosis anymore, but simply professional validation and confirmation by the doctor.
In an exclusive interview with Quackdoses, Dr. Kabhi Mat’bann™ said, “The patient walked in with a laptop, a tablet with a stylus, printouts of journal articles and all his digital reports. I initially thought he was a medical representative and waited for the usual pen or gift on the table. Then he started telling me what Gemini and ChatGPT had diagnosed. I told him to first consult his neighbour, gym trainer, pharmacist cousin, morning-walk uncle and that other uncle who sends medical advice on WhatsApp. After all, why should I be the first doctor to disagree with everyone?”
Unconfirmed sources claimed that the doctor also advised the patient to conduct a final family consultation on a WhatsApp video call before coming back to the consulting room, so that everyone could agree on the diagnosis before treatment was initiated.
