On 23 July OpenAI launched Health in ChatGPT for adults in the US: you connect Apple Health and your medical records, and the chat carries them into the conversation. The convenience is real - someone is finally putting your scattered health history in one place and explaining it to you in plain language. Who holds it and under what terms remains an open question.
- As of 23 July, Health in ChatGPT is available to adult users in the US - all plans, web and iOS.
- You connect Apple Health and supported medical records; the chat uses them as context in ordinary conversations.
- OpenAI states that health data doesn't train the models or feed ads; the service isn't in Europe yet.
You've been asking the chatbot about your health for a while now - about a test result, a diagnosis, something the doctor said in a hurry. Until now it answered blind, knowing nothing about you. As of this week in the US, that changes.
The convenience is real, and there's no point pretending otherwise. Your health history sits scattered across portals, PDF-files and three different apps. Something that gathers it and explains it to you in plain language solves a real problem. I can see why you'd turn it on from day one.
But one thing isn't said loudly enough. 'We don't use your data for training' is a company policy, not a law of nature. Policies get rewritten, companies get sold, terms get updated with one quiet email. Your health record, though, doesn't change. You only have one, it's yours, and it's forever.
The real question isn't whether AI can help with health. It can, and it will help more and more. The question is how much of yourself you're handing over for the convenience - and whether you can take it back. Health isn't in Europe yet. When it arrives, it'll go through GDPR. That isn't bureaucracy. It's the guarantee that the answer to the second question is 'yes.'