How to use artificial intelligence responsibly for health information?
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Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming part of how we search for and understand health information. AI-based tools can explain medical terms, simplify complex texts, and help you organize information and prepare questions for a conversation with your doctor.
If you are going through breast cancer diagnosis or treatment, you will probably have many questions at some point. Some will only come up once you get home after an appointment. You may want to revisit something your doctor told you, find out what a term in your results means, or prepare better for your next consultation.
AI can be a useful supporting tool in those situations. But there is one important rule:
What can AI do for you?
AI tools can be especially useful when you want to:
get a simpler explanation of a medical term
understand the basic content of a medical report
organize the information you have received
prepare questions for your next consultation with your doctor
make a list of symptoms or side effects you want to mention to your doctor
understand which types of benefits and risks are usually considered for different treatment options
translate or simplify health information
prepare to take a more active part in the conversation about your treatment
Still, an AI tool's answer can be inaccurate, incomplete, or based on outdated information. Even when it sounds very confident and convincing, that does not mean the answer is correct.
That is why you should check important health information obtained from AI tools with your doctor or another appropriate healthcare professional.
Before the appointment: prepare for the conversation
Appointments are often shorter than we would like, and when we are worried it is not always easy to remember everything we wanted to ask.
AI can help you organize your questions in advance.
Tomorrow I am meeting my to discuss the next steps in my breast cancer treatment. Help me make a list of questions I should ask so I can understand the goal of the therapy, the expected benefit, possible side effects, alternatives, and how the therapy may affect my everyday life.
Then review the suggested questions and choose the ones that matter to you.
You can also add what is especially important to you - questions about work, family, pregnancy planning, physical activity, sexual health, travel, or any other aspect of life you want to take into account during treatment.
When you do not understand a medical report
Medical reports can contain many technical terms a patient is not expected to know.
AI can help you understand the terminology.
Explain to me in simple language what -positive breast cancer means. Explain it to me as someone without a medical background.
What does mean and why is it included in the for breast cancer?
Explain this term to me simply first, and then write three questions I can ask my oncologist.
If you want to paste part of your report, first remove any details that could identify you, such as your first and last name, date of birth, JMBG, or health insurance (LBO) number.
And remember: an AI tool's explanation is not an interpretation of your specific medical case. The final interpretation of your results and what they mean for your treatment should come from your healthcare team.
When you are thinking about treatment options
One of the most important areas where AI can be useful is preparing for shared decision making.
This means that a treatment decision is not only a question of which therapies exist.
It is important to understand the expected benefits and risks of the different options, but also to talk about your needs, values, and priorities.
Which therapy should I choose?
Explain to me what information a patient and an oncologist usually consider when discussing the choice between treatment options. Include potential benefits, risks, side effects, and impact on quality of life. Then suggest questions I can ask my oncologist.
That way, AI does not make the decision for you.
It helps you prepare to make the decision about your treatment together with your healthcare team.
Tell AI what matters to you
A good medical decision is not necessarily the same for every person.
Two patients with a similar diagnosis can have different priorities.
For some, a particular side effect matters most. For others, being able to keep working. For some, preserving fertility. For others, keeping up a certain physical activity, or caring for children or other family members.
AI can help you think through your own priorities before the consultation.
I have an upcoming conversation with my doctor about choosing a therapy. Ask me questions that will help me think about what matters to me regarding quality of life, possible side effects, and everyday responsibilities. Do not recommend a therapy. At the end, help me make a short list of topics I want to discuss with my doctor.
This kind of preparation can help you come to the consultation not only with a list of medical questions, but also with a clearer picture of what matters to you.
After the appointment: organize what you heard
It is not unusual to realize after an important conversation that you did not remember everything, or that you have new questions.
You can describe to an AI tool, in your own words, what you understood and ask for help organizing the information.
At my appointment today we discussed the following topics: [list the information without personal details]. Organize this into three categories: what I understood, what I need to double-check, and which questions I can ask at my next consultation.
It is important not to use AI to guess what your doctor meant. If something from the conversation is not clear, write the question down and check it with your healthcare team.
How to get a better answer from an AI tool?
The question or instruction you give an AI tool is often called a prompt.
The clearer your question, the more likely you are to get a useful answer.
Tell me something about chemotherapy.
Explain to me in simple language what for breast cancer is, what the goal of this therapy can be, and what groups of side effects exist. Do not give a recommendation for my treatment. At the end, make a list of five questions I can ask my oncologist.
You can also ask AI to:
- use simpler language
- explain unfamiliar medical terms
- make a table
- highlight the most important information
- make a list of questions for your doctor
- say which information in its answer should be double-checked
Do not trust an answer just because it sounds convincing
This is one of the most important rules.
AI can produce an answer that sounds completely logical and confident, yet contains inaccurate or invented information. These errors are often called AI hallucinations.
Which claims in this answer should I check with my doctor or in a reliable medical source?
If AI cites a study, guideline, or scientific paper, check whether that source really exists and what it actually says.
Special caution is needed when the information concerns a diagnosis, choosing or changing a therapy, medication dosing, drug interactions, serious side effects, or situations that may require urgent medical attention.
Protect your personal data
Health data is particularly sensitive.
When using publicly available AI tools, do not enter information that is not needed to get an explanation.
Before copying a medical document, remove, among other things:
first and last name
date of birth
address
health insurance number or other identification numbers
phone number and e-mail
any other information that could identify you
Consider whether your question requires entering the entire medical document at all. It is often enough to ask about the meaning of a single term or part of the report.
When is AI not enough?
AI is not a substitute for a healthcare professional.
Based on an AI tool's answer, do not on your own:
- start or stop a therapy;
- change the dose or the way you take a medication;
- conclude that you have a particular diagnosis;
- decide that a symptom is not serious;
- postpone contacting a healthcare professional;
- make an important decision about your treatment.
If you have a new or worrying symptom, a problem during therapy, or a question that may require medical assessment, contact an appropriate healthcare professional.
Bring your AI questions to your doctor
If you used AI to research a topic before your appointment, you do not have to hide it from your doctor.
AI told me I should receive this therapy.
While preparing for this conversation, I came across this information. Could you explain whether it is relevant to my case?
I used AI to prepare questions for today's conversation. I would like to go through a few things I did not understand.
That way, AI becomes the start of a better conversation, not its replacement.
AI and shared decision making
AI can help reduce the information barriers between the two sides.
It can help you understand medical language, prepare, define what matters to you, and ask questions you might not have known how to formulate on your own.
But technology does not know you the way your healthcare team does, it does not take responsibility for medical decisions, and it cannot replace the relationship between a patient and a healthcare professional.
That is why OnkoVodič treats AI as a tool for health and digital literacy and communication support - not a replacement for healthcare.
Remember
- Use AI to understand better.
- Use it to prepare better.
- Use it to ask better questions.
- Make medical decisions in conversation with your healthcare team.
For healthcare professionals
Patients are already using AI tools to look for health information. That is why a conversation about their responsible use can become part of modern communication between healthcare professionals and patients.
A patient who comes to a consultation with information obtained through AI is not necessarily a ‘misinformed patient’. They may have used AI to understand terminology, prepare questions, or try to navigate a large amount of new information.
Have you looked for additional information about your diagnosis or therapy, including using AI tools?
If they have, the conversation can be an opportunity to check the most important information together, correct any inaccuracies, and point the patient to reliable sources.
AI can be particularly useful as support for shared decision making about treatment, helping the patient understand basic concepts, identify their priorities, and formulate questions before the consultation.
At the same time, healthcare professionals who use generative AI tools should be aware of their limitations. AI-generated medical and scientific information requires verification against relevant guidelines, original research, and other reliable professional sources.
The goal is not for AI to replace communication between healthcare professionals and patients, but - when used responsibly - to contribute to a better-informed patient and a better conversation.
Source and further reading
This content was prepared and adapted for OnkoVodič users based on the publication:
Using AI for Shared Decision Making in Medicine: A Practical Guide. White Paper, 2025.
The publication was created through the collaboration of Roche Patient Council members, including patient representatives, and experts in healthcare and technology.
Important note
The information on this page is educational in nature. The use of AI tools and OnkoVodič content is not a substitute for individual medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.