Science & TechnologyNOV 8, 2024

Person Vents About Their Symptoms To ChatGPT On A Whim, Ends Up Avoiding A Heart Attack

These days it seems that you can barely do anything online without artificial intelligence being involved or at least brought up. While many people don't like the way AI is slowly taking over the world, others use it to their benefit – to help with time or finance management, use it as a therapist, and so on.

It can even help to save your life – something that happened to today's OP. They were having chest pains and when ChatGPT suggested that they should seek immediate help, they did, which ended up being a brilliant idea.

More info: Reddit

Sometimes, the things you least expect to be helpful turn out to be exactly what you need

Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)

A person was working on a project until late in the night, when their chest started to feel tight

Image credits: Airam Dato-on / Pexels (not the actual photo)

They thought it must be stress or too much coffee and didn't do anything, just continued working

Image credits: RDNE Stock project / Pexels (not the actual photo)

A little later, out of curiosity, they decided to check ChatGPT, which said that their symptoms looked like cardiac arrest and they should seek immediate help

Image credits: sinebiryan

The person went to the emergency room, where it was confirmed that they were having a heart attack, meaning that the artificial intelligence saved their life

One day, the OP was working late on a project, glued to their screen for hours. At around 2 AM, they started feeling kind of off, plus their chest felt tight.

Since it was the middle of the night and they had spent a lot of time working, they didn’t think it was anything too serious, just stress causing a symptom. After all, 30-40% of those who go to the ER for chest pains find out they’re experiencing anxiety-induced symptoms, not a heart problem.

So, they got back to work, even though the "off" feeling never passed. A tad later, out of curiosity, they decided to ask ChatGPT about their symptoms. They typed the question “What could be causing chest tightness, dizziness, and nausea?”

They expected the chatbot to provide some bland responses, like suggesting they get some sleep or cut back on the coffee. Yet, it surprised them – instead of what was expected, the AI tool started asking about other symptoms like shortness of breath and sweating. This made the author realize that they were experiencing them too.

Adding the ones that they had listed themselves and those ChatGPT mentioned, it might start to look like a typical list of heart attack symptoms. In fact, that’s what the AI tool said that the person might be experiencing too, and that they should seek medical attention immediately.

Seeing these words written by the chatbot made a lightbulb go off in the OP’s mind. The way they were feeling was definitely not normal, but they still hesitated to go to the emergency room. They were afraid it was just an anxiety attack; after all, it had pretty similar symptoms, like chest pain and shortness of breath.

Many people are hesitant to go to emergency rooms when needed for similar reasons to the OP's – they are afraid their condition isn’t a true emergency and they might be called a hypochondriac or waste the time of the doctors.

Image credits: RDNE Stock project / Pexels (not the actual photo)

At the same time, symptoms like chest pain are listed among those that, if felt, should be “sent” to the emergency room. So, sometimes it’s important to put aside the hesitancy and seek immediate help before it’s too late. Just like it was important in the original poster’s case.

When the author ended up going to the ER, the doctor there told them they were in the early stages of a heart attack. Luckily, it was treated right away and the OP ended up being all alright. If they had waited even an hour or so longer, it could have ended way worse.

So, it’s no wonder that the person is kind of stunned that artificial intelligence basically saved their life. It didn’t diagnose or treat them, but it gave them the right push to take their symptoms seriously.

Apparently, ChatGPT can not only help with advising on health concerns, but in other life areas too. Someone in the comments under the original post wrote that this chatbot is helping them with their marriage by giving unbiased feedback about the situations they face. As this article on Vice shows, this comment’s author isn’t the only one who uses it for therapeutic purposes – plenty of people do.

While it’s nice to hear that artificial intelligence is so helpful for many people, it also should be kept in mind that ChatGPT cannot always be trusted when it comes to facts, as it might give unfactual or even made-up information. So, it’s advisable to use it as an inspiration or feedback tool rather than as a source of information.

Just like the OP did – they didn’t rely on the AI to diagnose them, but it worked as a motivation to seek help and save their life. After all, sometimes all you need to do something is a little push in the right direction, and this time it was given by artificial intelligence.