Foot’s Broken, But Doctor is Busy Typing: Patient Catches Doctor on ChatGPT

How much can one rely on AI? A viral video on Reddit demonstrates the limit of humans’ dependency on machines, and it has sparked both laughter and concern. The clip, filmed from the perspective of a patient with a visibly swollen foot, shows their doctor seemingly deep in concentration, funnily, not on a medical chart, not flipping through a diagnostic manual, but typing away on a computer. He was seen asking none other than ChatGPT how to handle the situation.

The video itself, cheekily captioned “Vro’s cooked”, has racked up thousands of comments. Some users couldn’t resist poking fun at the scene. “Hope he has ChatGPT Premium,” one quipped, imagining the doctor’s diagnosis stuck behind a paywall. Another joked, “Imagine he gets rate-limited mid-surgery.”

How far is too far when it comes to letting AI into the doctor’s office?

Doctors, of course, are no strangers to looking things up mid-consultation. For decades, medical professionals have relied on reference books, online journals, and even good old Google to refresh their memory on rare conditions or double-check dosages. But the idea that a patient’s treatment plan might depend on how quickly a chatbot can generate an answer sure feels absurd.

One commenter claiming to be a doctor jumped in to defend the scene. “We look up papers, treatment guidelines, and verify things all the time,” they said. “LLMs, if used correctly, just shorten that process.” In plain words, ChatGPT isn’t the diagnosis, but it’s the shortcut to the diagnosis. Still, the optics of a doctor asking a chatbot what to do while a patient points a camera at their throbbing toes? Not great.

There’s also the undeniable comedy of our times. Just when we thought WebMD-induced hypochondria was bad enough, now we have the image of a physician typing, “My patient’s foot looks like a balloon, what now?” into an AI prompt box.

AI in healthcare is already expanding, from diagnostic imaging tools to predictive models for treatment. But as this video shows, the human factor, the trust between doctor and patient, still matters. Whether this doctor was really leaning on ChatGPT for medical advice or just finishing some paperwork with AI’s help, the internet has made up its mind that medicine is now a legit new entrant in the world of memes. 

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