Roughly three in ten adults self-reported turning to social media (31%) or AI chatbots (29%) at least monthly for health information and advice, a recent KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust found.
KFF’s polling on AI and social media usage in 2026 is part of the organization's broader goal to track misinformation in the U.S. healthcare system and analyze its impact on patients. These polls, which took place in March 2026 and May 2026, respectively, demonstrate individuals' desire for quick information that may lack the accuracy of clinical care, KFF researchers noted.
Among those who used social media for healthcare advice, the three most frequently cited reasons for its usage were: wanting to learn from people who have the same health condition or share similar experiences (36%), wanting immediate information or support (35%) and not having a regular healthcare provider or not being able to afford the cost of seeing a provider (17%).
Similarly, AI users report that a major reason is wanting quick or immediate advice (65%), but other major reasons for AI usage included: wanting to look up information before deciding whether to see a healthcare provider (41%) and feeling more comfortable looking up things related to health privately (36%).
Individuals who turned to AI for health advice also cited affordability (19%) and access barriers (18%) as major reasons for using these tools. These percentages are similar to previously cited social media statistics, meaning that approximately one fifth of adults see affordability and access as key drivers for turning to AI or social media for advice.
Access and affordability rise as key drivers for AI and social media health advice among adults without insurance and LGBT adults, given that about a third of these adults cite access and affordability barriers, the KFF poll found.
Demographically, young adults are more likely than older adults to use social media and AI for health advice, but adults aged to 18 to 29 are more likely to rely on social media as opposed to AI. Adults aged 30 to 49 tend to turn to AI more frequently, as do higher-income adults and those with higher education.
"The majority of social media and AI users are confident in their ability to parse true or false information, which is perhaps why few take steps to validate the information either from a doctor or some other source," KFF researchers said.
According to a previous KFF poll published in March, about 42% of individuals who used AI for physical health advice never followed up with a doctor or other healthcare professional. A majority of social media users (64%) say they often don't follow up with healthcare provider after using social media for health information, a KFF poll published earlier in June found.
This lack of follow-up is particularly concerning, KFF researchers said, as the organization continues to monitor how AI spreads and creates faulty or illegitimate health research. A correspondence published in The Lancet in May identified more than 4,000 fabricated references across nearly 2.5 million biomedical papers published between 2023 and early 2026. Researchers have documented the growing presence of “paper mills,” operations that produce and sell fraudulent academic manuscripts, the researchers noted.
"AI is increasingly involved at multiple stages of the scientific information ecosystem, from generating content and citations to retrieving and summarizing published research. As fabricated references, fraudulent papers, and other forms of low-quality research become harder to distinguish from legitimate scholarship, weaknesses in one part of the system can affect others," KFF researchers wrote. "New efforts to detect paper mills, verify references, and improve AI reliability are underway, but people are already using AI tools to answer health questions."