Neetika Walter

ChatGPT can write code, craft emails, even plan vacations. But could it really spot cancer? Believe it or not — it might have.

A 40-year-old woman, whose baffling symptoms were repeatedly dismissed by doctors, claims that the insights from the AI chatbot led to her life-saving diagnosis.

In February 2024, Lauren Bannon, a U.S. resident and a mother of two, began noticing difficulty in bending her fingers, especially in the mornings and evenings.

Despite testing negative for rheumatoid arthritis, doctors diagnosed her with the condition after four months of visits.

However, the 40-year-old, who owns a marketing company, soon experienced excruciating stomach pains and a dramatic 14-pound weight loss within a month, with doctors attributing it to acid reflux.

AI’s role in diagnosis

Unsatisfied and desperate for answers, Bannon turned to the AI chatbot developed by OpenAI for a potential diagnosis, which she had been using for work.

Bannon shared that she inquired with ChatGPT about conditions that mimic rheumatoid arthritis. The chatbot suggested she might have Hashimoto’s disease and recommended she ask her doctor to check her thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO) levels, Kennedy News and Media reported.

“I needed to find out what was happening to me. I just felt so desperate. I just wasn’t getting the answers I needed,” she said.

Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune condition in which the body’s immune system attacks the thyroid gland, causing inflammation and ultimately reducing its function.

Despite her doctor’s reservations, she went for a test in September 2024 — only to be stunned when the results confirmed the chatbot’s suggestion, despite no family history of the condition.

This led doctors to conduct a thyroid ultrasound, which revealed two small lumps in her neck. By October 2024, these lumps were diagnosed as cancer.

Bannon believes she would never have discovered the hidden cancer without ChatGPT’s help since she didn’t present with typical symptoms of Hashimoto’s disease.

“I felt let down by doctors,” Bannon said. “It was almost like they were just trying to give out medication for anything to get you in and out the door.”

AI helps, but experts err on the side of caution

The 40-year-old underwent surgery to remove her thyroid and two lymph nodes from her neck in January 2025.

“If I hadn’t looked on ChatGPT, I would’ve just taken the rheumatoid arthritis medication and the cancer would’ve spread from my neck to everywhere else.”

“It saved my life. I would’ve never discovered this without ChatGPT. All my tests were perfect, she said.”

Experts, however, cautioned that artificial intelligence should not replace human medical expertise. While these tools can assist, alert, and provide comfort, they cannot diagnose, examine, or treat patients.

AI can improve healthcare outcomes, but relying solely on AI can pose risks, they emphasized.

“When used responsibly, AI can enhance healthcare outcomes — but when used in isolation, it can be dangerous,” Dr. Harvey Castro, a board-certified emergency medicine physician and national speaker on artificial intelligence, told Fox News Digital.

“We must prioritize patient safety and keep licensed medical professionals at the center of care.”