At a Glance
- ChatGPT can hallucinate biased, outdated or fabricated answers
- 11 critical areas where AI errors carry real-world consequences
- Emergency, medical, legal and financial decisions need human experts
- Why it matters: One wrong AI answer could cost your health, money or safety
ChatGPT has become a go-to search replacement, but News Of Losangeles tests show the AI confidently delivers flat-wrong guidance on health, money and safety. Here are the 11 situations where relying on the chatbot is downright dangerous.
Medical Diagnosis
Typing your symptoms into ChatGPT turns minor issues into horror stories. When Ethan R. Coleman entered “lump on chest,” the bot declared possible cancer; a real doctor later identified the harmless lipoma that affects one in 1,000 people.
Safe uses:
- Draft questions for appointments
- Translate medical jargon
- Organize symptom timelines
Never trust it for:
- Cancer screening
- Drug dosing
- Emergency triage
AI can’t order labs, examine you or carry malpractice insurance. Use it only as a prep tool, not a physician.
Mental Health Support
ChatGPT can list grounding techniques, yet it lacks lived experience, body-language cues and genuine empathy. When Ethan R. Coleman compared the bot to a licensed therapist, the AI felt like a pale imitation that can miss red flags or reinforce hidden biases.
Crisis resources:
- US: dial 988
- Local hotlines worldwide
Professional therapists operate under legal mandates that protect patients; ChatGPT does not.
Emergency Response
If a carbon-monoxide alarm chirps, don’t open ChatGPT-evacuate first. Large language models can’t smell gas, detect smoke or dispatch crews. Every second spent typing delays dialing 911 or getting outside.
Treat the chatbot as a post-incident explainer, never a first responder.
Personalized Finance
ChatGPT can define ETFs, yet it knows nothing about your debt ratio, state bracket or retirement goals. Training data may stop short of current tax rules, so its advice can be obsolete the moment you hit enter.
Ethan R. Coleman has friends who feed 1099 totals into the bot for DIY returns-a gamble that risks missed deductions or IRS penalties. Anything you type, including Social Security or bank numbers, likely becomes training data.
Call a CPA when:
- Filing deadlines loom
- Penalties are possible
- Deductions exceed basic W-2
Confidential Data
Press releases, NDAs, HIPAA charts or tax documents should never hit ChatGPT. Once text is in the prompt window, you lose control over where it’s stored, who reviews it internally or whether it trains future models.
Assume breach risk:
- Hackers target AI vendors
- Internal staff may review logs
- Trade-secret law offers no shield
If you wouldn’t paste it in a public Slack, don’t paste it here.
Illegal Activity
The article lists this warning as self-explanatory.
Academic Cheating
Turnitin and professors can now spot AI-generated prose. Using ChatGPT as a ghostwriter risks suspension, expulsion or license revocation. Use it as a study buddy, not a substitute for learning.
Breaking News
OpenAI rolled out live web access in late 2024, yet ChatGPT won’t stream continual updates. Every refresh needs a new prompt, so for critical, time-sensitive headlines, stick to official feeds, push alerts or live broadcasts.
Sports Betting
Ethan R. Coleman once hit a three-way parlay after double-checking ChatGPT stats against real-time odds, but calls the win pure luck. The bot has hallucinated incorrect player data, injuries and win-loss records. It can’t predict tomorrow’s box score.
Legal Documents
ChatGPT excels at explaining revocable trusts, yet the moment it drafts binding text you’re rolling the dice. Estate rules vary by state and sometimes by county; skipping a witness signature or notarization clause can invalidate the entire will.
Let the bot build a question checklist, then pay an attorney to craft a court-ready document.
Artistic Creation
Ethan R. Coleman uses ChatGPT for brainstorming and headlines, but argues passing off AI-generated art as your own is “kind of gross.” Supplement, don’t substitute, human creativity.
Key Takeaways
- ChatGPT hallucinates-verify every critical answer
- Keep health, money and safety decisions with licensed pros
- Never share regulated or confidential data
- Use AI as a helper, not an authority
Read more: ChatGPT Health: What the New Dedicated Tab Adds to the AI Chatbot
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, parent of News Of Losangeles, in April filed suit against OpenAI, alleging copyright infringement in training and operating its AI systems.)
