A late-night chat with an AI bot may have saved a man’s life, and his Reddit post about it has sparked a wider discussion about AI’s role in medical decision-making.
A 49-year-old man shared on Reddit how a late-night conversation with an AI chatbot named Grok helped him recognize the urgency of his symptoms and prompted him to visit the emergency room (ER) for a CT scan, ultimately enabling him to receive timely treatment.
He initially experienced 24 hours of severe abdominal pain, which he described as constant and rated 8 out of 10 in intensity. He was unable to lie flat and found only minimal relief when sitting with his knees drawn to his chest. He reported no visible external symptoms such as bleeding or fever.
Concerned, he made his first visit to the ER. During this visit, the physician performed a physical examination and found his abdomen to be soft. His symptoms were attributed to a gastrointestinal issue, and he was prescribed Somac (pantoprazole, a proton pump inhibitor used to reduce stomach acid) before being discharged. However, the severe pain persisted without any improvement.
Still in significant distress, the patient turned to a year-long chat conversation he had been maintaining with the AI chatbot Grok. After describing his full set of symptoms, the AI identified a concerning pattern and suggested two serious possibilities: a perforated ulcer or atypical appendicitis. Atypical appendicitis can present without classic right-lower-quadrant pain, fever, or elevated white blood cell counts, making it easy to misdiagnose, which is why early detection often requires imaging.
Peptic ulcer disease (PUD) also known as perforated ulcer results from an imbalance between stomach acid-pepsin and mucosal defense barriers and affects around 4 million people worldwide each year.
Atypical appendicitis refers to cases that do not follow the typical pattern of abdominal pain, nausea, and fever, making diagnosis more challenging.
The chatbot highlighted his symptom cluster as high-risk and strongly recommended an immediate return to the hospital for a CT scan, providing clear reasoning for why urgent imaging was necessary.
Armed with this information, the patient returned to the ER. Instead of mentioning the AI chatbot, he told the medical staff that his sister, who is a nurse, had advised him to request a CT scan, a detail he later revealed in the Reddit comments.
This approach worked. Imaging revealed an inflamed appendix that was dangerously close to rupturing. The patient subsequently underwent a six-hour laparoscopic appendectomy.
A laparoscopic appendectomy is a minimally invasive surgery to remove an inflamed appendix.
Upon waking from anesthesia, the severe pain that had plagued him had completely resolved.
Disclaimer
This article is based on a patient’s self-reported account shared on social media and should not be considered medical advice.
(Rh/VK/MSM)