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Generative AI (artificial intelligence) is a type of computer program that makes new content, like words, pictures, or sounds. It learns from lots of examples and finds patterns in the data, such as content on the Internet. You may have come across AI assistants or chatbots, like ChatGPT, CoPilot, Gemini and others, as you search for information about your health.
You may be reading AI-generated information when searching the internet. For example, Google provides an AI Overview for most searches using Gemini. In the image, I searched “What is Mayo Clinic Connect?”
By clicking the link icon, you can review where the chatbot got its information and check the accuracy of the newly presented information.
When you ask an AI assistant a question or give it a prompt, it looks at the data and then gives back answers or suggestions in plain language. But the information AI assistants give you isn’t always 100% accurate—it depends on the data it was trained on and how your question or prompt was worded.
How Can I Use Generative AI Safely?
Fact Check Everything
AI tools do not replace human judgment or oversight. Any text, image, or video generated by AI should be used only as a starting point, not as verified information. It may contain inaccuracies, biases, and other problems. Generative AI tools can sometimes generate plausible-sounding answers that are wrong.
- AI tools can sound sure, even when they’re wrong.
- Always check AI answers against trusted websites or books.
- Look for links or notes showing where the information came from.
Use Human Oversight
- Think of AI as your helper, not the final judge.
- Read and edit whatever the AI creates to fix mistakes or bias.
- If something seems odd or unfair, double-check with another source.
Ask for Sources
- You can tell your AI tool, “Please list your sources.”
- Check where this information came from.
Using AI on Mayo Clinic Connect
Mayo Clinic Connect is for sharing real health experiences and support. You do not need to use AI. If you share information from AI tools with the Mayo Clinic Connect community, please follow the guidance provided in the Community Guidelines.
You are responsible for the accuracy, originality and quality of your posts, whether a tool helped you or not. Here’s how to use AI the right way:
- Start with your own story and ideas. AI can add information but not replace you.
- If you use AI, use short AI quotes to back up your experience, not long AI essays.
- Do not use AI answers alone.
- Be open about your AI help. Say what question you asked or what prompt you used.
By doing this, you keep the conversations on Mayo Clinic Connect real, honest, and helpful for everyone.
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Thank you, Colleen. This is about as helpful as it gets!
Julie Olson
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5 ReactionsI am still using Ask Jeeves.
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3 ReactionsNo worries on that issue, my friend. Colleen, the other Moderators, and our Merry Band of Volunteer Mentors are working very hard to keep Mayo Connect centered on our thousands of members sharing their experiences.
Who would ever have thought, 20 years ago, that such a vast and varied online community like this could exist? Times change, and AI will change too, but it cannot replace the conversations we share about our health journeys and how we manage them.
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17 ReactionsThanks, it seems as if "tech" is moving way too fast these days---- especially for the older people. I don't even have a smart cell phone. I did try to buy & use one, but to no avail. Maybe some day!
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5 ReactionsTry Alvin Toffler's Future Shock. It's all moving faster (and faster) than human development can accommodate.
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2 ReactionsI went to mcdonalds the other day. I know not a good choice. Im 73 and pretty tech savvy . But they didnt even have a cashier. I had to order off the portal. I just wanted a hamburger off the value menu with no onions. I had to get the 13yr old next to me to help order. Things are moving quickly.
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5 Reactions@scottrl, I'd need to hear a specific reference to believe this claim. I don't know of any company that has given full responsibility to code development to AI. AI greatly accelerates code development. In addition, developing code to enable a user to utilize a mouse without sliding their hand on a pad can, in no way, be equated to a machine gun and bourbon in a car.
The potential errors in over reliance on AI is real, but hysterical exaggeration only weakens the need for caution.
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1 Reaction@jc76, What WebMD won't tell you is how much money they make from pharmaceutical companies. WebMD is no more trustworthy than AI.
I stick with the basics: Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, Cleveland Clinic, NIH, etc. For lung cancer, I primarily use the IASLC (International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer), Lungevity, and The Research Advocacy Network. (I'm not sure everyone can access that last one. I have access as a Patient Research Advocate.)
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7 ReactionsA gentle reminder as we all explore AI tools: use them, but use them thoughtfully. Even when an AI cites sources, it’s still up to us to confirm they’re real.
During a talk I gave last year on why AI is likely to create more jobs than it displaces, I asked ChatGPT for background material with references. Two citations turned out to be phantom papers. When I pointed this out, the model apologized and quickly offered five reliable sources—but only after I checked.
Lesson learned: always open the links and verify each reference yourself. If you’re using a reasoning model like ChatGPT o3, ask it for live links at the end of its answer. One click should take you straight to the actual paper or article, so you can judge the evidence directly. With that simple habit, AI becomes a powerful assistant rather than an unreliable narrator.
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7 ReactionsIt's something called trust. If AI gives me two phantoms which IT can't recognize as bogus, where else is it screwing up? I have to double check everything. In medicine, it's life or death. Apologies don't count. As my local Judge used to say, "Why die twice?"
At least he could hash out the legal issues with his flesh and blood Law Clerk, and arrive at an "organic analog" conclusion which makes human sense rather than digital algorithms which can't recognize nonsense?
But yes, ok, it's a tool, like my socket wrench.
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