With the rise of AI summaries for health information and the introduction of AI mode, a group of health charities, including the BHF, have raised concerns about access to trustworthy information.
The charities, including end of life charity Marie Curie, the Patient Information Forum (PIF), Macmillan Cancer Support, Cancer Research UK and us, have urged the public to look beyond AI health summaries and visit trusted, evidence-based, UK-verified sources for additional information and context.
A report from Marie Curie, Macmillan and PIF, which represents health organisations, published earlier this year raised concerns over AI-generated health summaries on search engines such as Google.
Concerns highlighted by organisations include:
- Gynae cancer charity The Eve Appeal highlighted that a search for ‘vaginal cancer symptoms and tests’ produced an AI summary that listed a PAP test as a test for vaginal cancer, which is incorrect.
- An AI-generated summary advised people with pancreatic cancer to avoid high-fat foods. However, Pancreatic Cancer UK said this advice is the opposite of recommendations for people affected by pancreatic cancer.
- Searches for information on what a ‘normal’ range is for liver blood tests returned AI-generated summaries which don’t account for a person’s sex, age or ethnicity. The British Liver Trust said this made the information inaccurate for some people.
These concerns arise as a recent survey of PIF members revealed that almost half (49%) have seen inaccuracies or misinformation about their topic area in AI overviews.
More than 6 out of 10 health charities have observed a decline in traffic to their websites since the rollout of health summaries.
This has sparked concerns that the public is not accessing source information and could be missing out on vital additional professional support and context when it is most needed.
The coalition is calling on Google and other search engine providers to take immediate action to reduce potential harm, including:
- Clear signposting to NHS-approved advice and support services
- Prioritised verified UK-based sources with links to further information
- Clear disclaimers that AI-generated content cannot substitute medical advice.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, our Chief Executive, said: “Being diagnosed with cardiovascular disease is one of those moments in life where having access to need reliable, evidence-based information and advice is priceless.
“Each year millions of heart patients and their families turn to the internet in search of answers to their questions, and we have a duty as a society to ensure they access only the highest quality information and advice online.
“This is why it is so vital that verified sources such as the BHF website remain a first port of call for those in need of trustworthy, unbiased and accurate information about heart disease.”
Sophie Randall, Director of the Patient Information Forum, said: “We know there are concerns about the results in some AI Overview results. PIF has a mission to promote trusted health information to the public, which is why we are making our report available to the public.
“To stay safe when searching for health information online, we encourage the public to use trusted sources such as www.nhs.uk, look for the PIF TICK, the UK’s only quality mark for reliable health content, and add ‘UK’ to their searches to help surface relevant, UK-based information.”