Dr. AI – Artificial intelligence instead of a healthcare professional?

A previous research by Publicis Groupe Hungary, the AI ​​Readiness Index, already revealed that AI readiness is improving year by year in Hungary, and that artificial intelligence is not a futuristic idea, but an integral part of everyday life. While white-collar office workers most often use AI-based platforms, other demographic groups are also opening up to artificial intelligence and are starting to explore the opportunities offered by the new technology on a wider scale. Rita Horváth, Head of Media at Publicis Groupe Hungary, highlights: “We consider it important to monitor the changes related to AI and examine this not only in general, but also in relation to certain sectors.”

The current survey by Publicis Groupe Hungary sought to answer the question of how central the use of AI is becoming in healthcare issues. The representative research was conducted by PwC experts among the digitally affine Hungarian population, who also shop online.

General overview

6 out of 10 people already use artificial intelligence in their everyday lives, and despite the fact that more than half of the respondents first became acquainted with AI last year, 66% are the proportion who most often seek answers to questions that arise in their private lives through technology. Based on this, it can be seen that the use of artificial intelligence has skyrocketed, and Hungarians are also entrusting their personal data to platforms. When asked how they would rate the reliability of AI sources on a scale of 1 to 5, the average response was 2.73 – however, 23% of respondents had already turned to ChatGPT or Copilot for health-related questions.

AI doctor orders!

AI is reaching more and more households and its spectrum of use is also expanding. It is therefore not surprising that longer and deeper research work has been replaced in many areas by AI-based summaries available at the touch of a button. For residential users, large language model-based platforms have the advantage of receiving quick answers, being available 24/7 and being able to transform any technical jargon into text that they understand.

The research results also support this. Regarding the topic of health, 70% of Generation Y highlighted that the biggest advantage of artificial intelligence is speed. At the same time, the digitally native Generation Z reflects on another side of AI use: 33% felt that their doctor did not provide enough in-depth information, so they asked artificial intelligence to get a more comprehensive picture or better understand their condition; and 9% are shy in front of the doctor and felt safer discussing their questions online. AI therefore not only provides information that is easily accessible in seconds, but can also create a platform where – especially for younger users – they can find information more comfortably.

What do we use personalization for? Generational differences

The largest proportion of respondents use AI to summarize the diagnosis of diseases, check their symptoms, and select the right vitamins and dietary supplements for them. In addition, 27% ask for help in checking laboratory results, and 22% in interpreting the textual assessment of imaging diagnostic findings.

In terms of prompting lifestyle advice, Gen Y is starting to catch up with those one year younger, and they only ask for help from AI at a similar rate to Gen Z. Thanks to the fast-response AI interfaces, they feel like they own services that they would have to wait in long waiting lists or pay a high price for in private care: so they coordinate personalized diet, exercise plans and sleep quality analysis with the devices.

Overall, not surprisingly, Gen Z uses AI-based descriptions at the highest rate, while the other demographic groups surveyed prefer to rely on Google search or guidance from Google and other AI. Gen Z is also the leader in the selection of possible treatments by AI.

Despite all this, almost half, 45%, of respondents believe that AI and real content are becoming blurred, and in the future it will be difficult to separate authentic information from hallucinations. Many users rely on AI guidance, but most don’t take it for granted: only 9% of respondents don’t check AI’s answers, and 7% have made decisions based solely on AI. However, 32% feel that overall, using AI allows them to ask their doctor more targeted questions.

Future potential

While the number of consumer users