Good morning. At least nine people were killed and 25 injured in a shooting in a remote town in western Canada. Late last night, the F.A.A. halted all flights to and from the airport in El Paso, the nation’s 23rd largest city. The agency cited “special security reasons,” surprising local officials. And the police investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie detained a person for questioning but later released him. We’ll get to more news below. But first, you’d be surprised about when you can trust A.I. with your health, and when you can't.
Dr. ChatbotFor hypochondriacs, A.I. chatbots are a windfall. Ask the computer a few questions and the adrenaline begins to flow. You almost certainly have psoriatic arthritis! That is plantar fasciitis. You should probably seek treatment for that B12 deficiency. Really? Probably not. Those chatbots are no better than Google, itself no doctor, at helping users find a correct diagnosis, according to a study published this week. Worse, A.I. can deliver misinformation about your health, or change the advice it offers if you ask the question a second time, using different wording. Not one of the chatbots evaluated in the study is ready to be used for actual patient care, reported Teddy Rosenbluth, one of our health reporters. But, wow, a lot of people use them for exactly that. One in six adults regularly use chatbots to explore health information. And big A.I. companies, including Amazon and OpenAI, have unveiled products that are specifically designed to answer the health questions of their users. Scutwork and coachingOf course, your doctor may well be using a chatbot already, too. One told Gina Kolata, a science reporter, that A.I. is taking over what he deemed “some of the scutwork” that doctors do, including compiling notes on patient visits. (That’s also a story line on the current season of “The Pitt.”) Another said he uses a chatbot to practice difficult conversations with patients. There are situations in which A.I. can do better than doctors, Gina reported. A.I. is better at reading electrocardiograms, for instance. It finds patterns in the data that cardiologists can’t see. It also pays close attention to details of medical screening and offers good counsel about sleeping and eating. It can also help in performing triage on a group of patients, shunting some toward nurse practitioners and freeing the doctor to work with patients who need complex care. That is leaving some doctors nervous. A.I., one told Gina, “will make people like me less and less valuable.” But not yet. “I think our doctoring role may look a little different,” another doctor told her. “But I will still be sitting on a little rolling stool, talking to the patient.” Read Gina’s story here. The diagnosisTalk to your doctor! Talking to a chatbot, especially if you’re seeking a psychological diagnosis, is risky. The Times spoke to more than 100 therapists and psychiatrists across the country who are treating problems caused or compounded by discussions with A.I. They told the reporters that while there were some positive effects — like helping patients understand their diagnoses — the conversations could also lead to patient anxiety and in some cases to psychosis and suicidal thoughts. “As with all new technologies, it can be used as a powerful force in both positive and negative ways,” one doctor told the reporters. In the meantime, heed the axiom: A.I., like airplanes and skid loaders, works far better in the hands of experienced operators. Now, let’s see what else is happening in the world.
Democrats have a financial problem. House and Senate Republicans have around $320 million at their disposal — more than double the Democrats’ $137 million. And that’s not even counting the more than $300 million in President Trump’s super PAC, which he could choose to spend on the midterms. It’s an unusual position for Democrats. In the 2024 presidential race, the party and Kamala Harris’s campaign raised $2 billion — far more than Trump and the Republicans’ $1.2 billion. Read about the fund-raising battle. More on the midterms
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The feeling of awe allows for a neurobiological reset. In this news climate, thank goodness the Winter Olympics delivers it, Kelly Corrigan writes. Here is a column by Jamelle Bouie on the impact of ICE’s actions. Morning readers: Save on the complete Times experience. Experience all of The Times, all in one subscription — all with this introductory offer. You’ll gain unlimited access to news and analysis, plus games, recipes, product reviews and more.
Cat crossing: Between 2018 and 2023 alone, California added 550 miles of lanes to state highways. Now the state is building a huge concrete and steel crossing to help the mountain lions endangered by the roads. Celebrity spotting: For some fans, getting a glimpse of Sunghoon, a K-pop superstar who is in Milan as an ambassador for the South Korean Olympic team, is a competitive sport. Your pick: The most-clicked link in The Morning yesterday was about the Trump administration’s plans to cut health funding from four Democrat-led states. A clown: Philippe Gaulier often insulted the students in his comedy classes, but many became stars, including Sacha Baron Cohen, Emma Thompson and Rachel Weisz. He died at 82.
3.2 billion— That is the number of MetroCards the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York ordered between 1993, when the cards were first tested, and the end of 2025, when they were phased out. Artists who use the blue-and-yellow transit passes in their work are starting to run out. Read about their distress.
Hockey: The U.S. women’s team won a decisive 5-0 victory over Canada. Figure skating: The American Ilia Malinin is in prime position to win the men’s individual gold after scoring a 108.16 in the short program. The “Quad God” has a 5.09-point lead over Yuma Kagiyama of Japan heading into Friday’s decisive free skate. |
