“`html
A few times a week, Jonathan Freidin, a medical malpractice attorney in Miami, notices a telltale sign in client contact forms: text littered with emojis and headings, copied and pasted from ChatGPT. Other clients openly admit to researching their potential cases using AI. “We’re seeing a lot more callers who feel like they have a case because ChatGPT or Gemini told them that the doctors or nurses fell below the standard of care in multiple different ways,” Freidin says.”While that may be true,it doesn’t necessarily translate into a viable case.”
Increasingly, people are turning to generative AI chatbots to research everything from dinner recipes to complex legal and medical problems. A December 2025 survey from the legal software company Clio found that 57% of consumers have or would use AI to answer a legal question.A 2025 Zocdoc survey revealed that one in three Americans use generative AI tools for health advice each week, with one in ten using them daily. Zocdoc CEO Oliver Kharraz predicted in the report that “AI will become the go-to tool for pre-care needs like symptom checking, triage, and navigation, and also for routine tasks like refills and screenings.” He cautioned, however, that “patients will recognize that it is no substitute for the vast majority of healthcare interactions, especially those that require human judgment, empathy, or complex decision-making.”
The Rise of the AI-Informed Patient and Client
Doctors and lawyers are now routinely sifting through AI-generated emails or working to convince people that they possess expertise and understand the nuances of local judges or a patient’s medical history. Generative AI has democratized access to information once elusive and expensive, but it’s also reshaping how professionals interact with people and what those people expect.
ChatGPT is quickly becoming the new WebMD and LegalZoom, transforming the average person into an armchair expert with just a few prompts. And it’s frustrating the real experts.
“We have to dispel the information they were able to obtain versus what is actually going on in their case and kind of work backwards,” says Jamie Berger, a family law attorney in New Jersey. Until recently, she explains, most people knew little about divorce proceedings and sought information from attorneys. Now, they arrive armed with step-by-step plans, frequently enough generic and ill-suited to their specific situation. Berger notices a shift in tone after emailing a client, suspecting they’re using AI to draft lengthy legal strategies or questions. She then has to explain, “it’s not necessarily your factual circumstance,” and address their points. “You have to rebuild or build the attorney-client relationship in a way that didn’t used to exist,” says Berger. “They don’t realize that ther’s so many offshoots along the way that it’s not a linear line from A to Z.”
AI acts as a second opinion without the wait.
Like a seasoned professional, generative AI chatbots speak with authority. This can be more persuasive than reading blog posts or forum summaries.A 2025 survey from Survey Monkey and financial services company Express Legal Funding found that a third of Americans would trust ChatGPT more than a human expert, though they were less likely to use it for medical and legal advice, and more likely for educational and financial guidance.
The Allure of Instant Access
Chatbots also offer something doctors struggle to provide: time. While doctors are pressured to quickly evaluate patients
