From Diagnoses to Treatments, Why Americans Use AI Chatbots for Health

(Jamie Grill via Getty Images) About this research This Pew Research Center report looks at Americans’ use and views of chatbots for health. Why did we do this? Pew Research Center does research to help the public, media and decision-makers understand important topics. This research builds on our work studying Americans’ views of medicine and health to explore how Americans use chatbots for health. Learn more about Pew Research Center, our research on medicine and health and other research on science and society. How did we do this? For this report, we surveyed 3,488 U.S. adults from June 22 to 28, 2026. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The survey represents the views of the full U.S. adult population. Here are the survey questions used for this report, the detailed responses and the survey methodology. Key takeaways: A quarter of Americans say they use AI chatbots to diagnose symptoms. Similar shares use them to better understand information they may have gotten from healthcare providers, like to learn more about a doctor’s diagnosis or understand lab results. Nearly all chatbot health users find this health information at least somewhat helpful. But these users are split on whether they feel comfortable sharing personal health information with chatbots. More and more Americans are using AI chatbots, including turning to them for health information. These chatbot health users are motivated by a host of reasons, ranging from making diagnoses to learning about their lab results. And they generally find chatbot health information useful, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of 3,488 U.S. adults conducted June 22-28, 2026. Building on the Center’s previous work on Americans’ health information sources, this report explores the “why” behind U.S. adults’ use of chatbots for health. This analysis also looks at how helpful chatbot health users find this information, and how comfortable they are sharing personal health information with a chatbot. Why do Americans use chatbots for health information? Americans use chatbots for a host of health-related reasons, from helping make diagnoses on their own to learning more about information they may have gotten from a doctor. Reasons for using chatbots for health span convenience, cost and medical advice % of U.S. adults who say they ever use AI chatbots for the following health reasons Note: Respondents who do not use AI chatbots or use them but not for these health reasons are not shown. Respondents who did not answer are also not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted June 22-28, 2026. “From Diagnoses to Treatments, Why Americans Use AI Chatbots for Health” PEW RESEARCH CENTER Reasons for using chatbots for health span convenience, cost and medical advice % of U.S. adults who say they ever use AI chatbots for the following health reasons ReasonGroupPercentageTo get health information quicklyMain28To figure out what’s causing symptomsMain25To get health information at little to no costMain22To get health information about treatmentsMain22To learn more about a diagnosis from a doctorMain22To help understand lab resultsMain20To get health information you are uncomfortable talking aboutMain18To help decide whether to go to a doctorMain15NET ever use AI chatbots for at least one of these health and medical reasonsNet34 Note: Respondents who do not use AI chatbots or use them but not for these health reasons are not shown. Respondents who did not answer are also not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted June 22-28, 2026. “From Diagnoses to Treatments, Why Americans Use AI Chatbots for Health” PEW RESEARCH CENTER In all, 34% of Americans ever use AI chatbots for at least one of the eight health and medical reasons we asked about. We refer to this share as chatbot health users. Nearly all of these users cite multiple reasons for using these tools for health. About three-in-ten U.S. adults (28%) say getting health information quickly is a motivation for using chatbots. This aligns with previous Center research showing that convenience is a factor chatbot health users rate highly. Other reasons have to do with figuring out what’s causing symptoms or better understanding medical information they may have gotten elsewhere. This includes understanding lab results and learning more about treatments or a doctor’s diagnosis. These motivations were cited by 20% to 25% of Americans. A similar share (22%) say they turn to chatbots because they are low-cost or free. Other reasons they use chatbots for health are to help decide whether to see a doctor (15%) or to get health information they’re uncomfortable talking about (18%). Related: Americans and AI 2026: Chatbots, Smart Devices and Views on Impact Related: Where Do Americans Get Health Information, and What Do They Trust? Who is more likely to use chatbots for health? Asian Americans and younger adults are among the most likely to be chatbot health users % who are chatbot health users * Estimates for Asian adults are representative of English speakers only. Note: Chatbot health users are those who say they ever use chatbots for at least one of the eight health reasons asked about. White, Black and Asian adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanic adults are of any race. Family income tiers are based on adjusted 2024 earnings. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted June 22-28, 2026. “From Diagnoses to Treatments, Why Americans Use AI Chatbots for Health” PEW RESEARCH CENTER Asian Americans and younger adults are among the most likely to be chatbot health users % who are chatbot health users PercentageU.S. adults34White29Hispanic39Black35Asian*56Ages 18-294430-494050-643265+17College grad+44Some college34HS or less23Upper income48Middle income33Lower income28Among those who say increased use makes them feel…More excited about AI60Equally concerned/excited about AI45More concerned about AI21 * Estimates for Asian adults are representative of English speakers only. Note: Chatbot health users are those who say they ever use chatbots for at least one of the eight health reasons asked about. White, Black and Asian adults include those who report being only one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanic adults are of any race. Family income tiers are based on adjusted 2024 earnings. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted June 22-28, 2026. “From Diagnoses to Treatments, Why Americans Use AI Chatbots for Health” PEW RESEARCH CENTER Several demographic groups are more likely to be chatbot health users: Asian Americans, adults under 50, four-year college graduates, and upper-income adults. These demographic patterns in chatbot health users are similar to overall chatbot use. And overall optimism about AI plays a role as well. Adults who are more concerned about the increased use of AI are far less likely to be chatbot health users than those who are more excited about these technologies (21% vs. 60%). Related: Young adults in the U.S. are increasingly wary of AI and concerned about it taking jobs How helpful are chatbots for health? A majority of chatbot health users see value in using these tools for health information. About half of these users (47%) say the information they get is extremely or very helpful, while 48% say it is somewhat helpful. Very few (5%) say this information is not too or not at all helpful. About half of chatbot health users say the information they get from these tools is really helpful % of chatbot health users who say the health information they get from chatbots is __ helpful Note: Chatbot health users are those who say they ever use chatbots for at least one of the eight health and medical reasons asked about. Respondents who did not answer are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted June 22-28, 2026. “From Diagnoses to Treatments, Why Americans Use AI Chatbots for Health” PEW RESEARCH CENTER About half of chatbot health users say the information they get from these tools is really helpful % of chatbot health users who say the health information they get from chatbots is __ helpful Extremely/VerySomewhatNot too/Not at allU.S. adults47485 Note: Chatbot health users are those who say they ever use chatbots for at least one of the eight health and medical reasons asked about. Respondents who did not answer are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted June 22-28, 2026. “From Diagnoses to Treatments, Why Americans Use AI Chatbots for Health” PEW RESEARCH CENTER How comfortable are chatbot health users with sharing personal health information with these tools? Mixed comfort levels sharing personal health information with chatbots % of chatbot health users who say they would be __ comfortable sharing personal health information with a chatbot Note: Chatbot health users are those who say they ever use chatbots for at least one of the eight health and medical reasons we asked about. Respondents who said “Not sure” or did not answer are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted June 22-28, 2026.“From Diagnoses to Treatments, Why Americans Use Chatbots for Health” PEW RESEARCH CENTER Mixed comfort levels sharing personal health information with chatbots % of chatbot health users who say they would be __ comfortable sharing personal health information with a chatbot Extremely/VerySomewhatNot too/Not at allU.S. adults294226 Note: Chatbot health users are those who say they ever use chatbots for at least one of the eight health and medical reasons we asked about. Respondents who said “Not sure” or did not answer are not shown. Source: Survey of U.S. adults conducted June 22-28, 2026.“From Diagnoses to Treatments, Why Americans Use Chatbots for Health” PEW RESEARCH CENTER While chatbot health users find these tools helpful, they have varying comfort levels sharing personal health information with chatbots. This comes at a time when some platforms have faced scrutiny for storing and selling people’s health data or using it to train large language models. Alongside this, some tech companies are unveiling chatbot tools for healthcare. Chatbot health users are about as likely to be extremely or very comfortable (29%) sharing personal health information with a chatbot as they are to be not too or not at all comfortable (26%). The largest share sits in the middle, saying they would be somewhat comfortable doing this (42%).