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The fake disease that fooled AI

The fake disease that fooled AI

60-Second Science vor 4 Monaten

How an experiment involving a made-up skin condition exposes the risks of increasingly popular AI medical advice

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Have you ever turned to an artificial intelligence chatbot for
medical advice? In this episode of Science Quickly, host Rachel
Feltman speaks with researcher Almira Osmanovic Thunström about an
experiment in which she created “bixonimania,” a fake disease that
AI chatbots easily absorbed and repeated to users. The experiment
reveals the pitfalls of using AI to interpret medical results—a
habit that’s becoming increasingly common these days. Recommended
Reading: “Scientists invented a fake disease. AI told people it was
real,” by Chris Stokel-Walker, in Nature. Published online April 7,
2026 A third of Americans say they’ve asked AI to decode their
medical results E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have
any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!
Discover something new everyday: subscribe to Scientific American
and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science
Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Sushmita
Pathak and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Alex Sugiura,
with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. Our theme
music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad
choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices