Pew: Social media and AI health info rated convenient, not accurate

Tier 1: Established: peer-reviewed research or government health authority
Publisher: Pew Research Center · Published: April 7, 2026 · Accessed: August 12, 2026

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Claims this source supports

• 22% of US adults get health information from AI chatbots at least sometimes, including 7% who do so often or extremely often; 36% get health information from social media at least sometimes.
• 85% of US adults get health information from health care providers at least sometimes – still the dominant source by far – while 66% get it from people with a similar health issue and 60% from major health information websites.
• 61% of adults who get health information from AI chatbots at least sometimes also get it from social media.
• Among adults who get health information from AI chatbots, 48% say it is highly convenient, 41% say it is extremely or very easy to understand, and only 23% say it is highly personalized (47% say not too or not at all personalized).
• On accuracy, slightly more chatbot health-information users say the information is not too or not at all accurate (23%) than say it is highly accurate (18%) – versus 65% of health-care-provider users who rate provider information highly accurate.
• Younger adults are more likely to use AI chatbots for health information: 32% of adults 18-29 at least sometimes, versus 16% of adults 50-64 and 10% of those 65+.