Doctors assumed it was rheumatoid arthritis, but this 40-year-old woman, a mother of two, was far from convinced. She took the test for rheumatism, an autoimmune condition, but it came back negative, confirming her suspicion.
Lauren Bannon, who runs a marketing agency, was having trouble bending her fingers during the day and the evening. She first noticed the problem in February 2024. She consulted a doctor who diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis, although the test came back negative for the condition. Soon she started experiencing excruciating abdominal pain. Bannon lost 6 kgs within a month. Doctors pinned the issue as acid reflux.
Concerned about the symptoms, Lauren Bannon turned to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which concluded it was Hashimoto’s disease. It stated, “You may have Hashimoto’s disease; ask your doctor to check your thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO) levels.” The malady causes the immune system to attack the thyroid gland, thereby making it dysfunctional.
Bannon informed the doctors how ChatGPT diagnosed her autoimmune condition. She insisted on a test in September 2024. Lauren remarked, “I needed to find out what was happening to me; I just felt so desperate. I just wasn’t getting the answers I needed.”
The doctors performed an ultrasound of the woman’s thyroid and saw two lumps in the neck that were eventually confirmed as cancer in October 2024. Speaking with the media, Bannon stated, “I felt let down by doctors.” She added, “It was almost like they were just trying to give out medication for anything to get you in and out the door.”
After her cancer diagnosis, Bannon underwent surgery in January 2025 to remove the thyroid and two lymph nodes.
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So were the doctors in the wrong all along? Bannon’s diagnosis was complex, as she did not present symptoms typical of Hashimoto’s disease. But had she not gone for a second opinion with the AI, this wasn’t a news you would have been reading. Probably an obituary in the local daily…
Mom of two credits ChatGPT with saving her life by helping detect cancer — which doctors missed https://t.co/Ph1dvGmS7G pic.twitter.com/AVj7hyGR7p
— New York Post (@nypost) April 24, 2025
Users must not jump to conclusions with self-diagnosis with an AI chatbot. Always confirm with a physician or two.
Meanwhile in India
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Cover: Patrick Gawande / Mashable India