A large-scale study analysing more than 500,000 health-related conversations with Microsoft Copilot offers a detailed look at how people are using general-purpose AI chatbots for medical information, symptom questions, and healthcare navigation.
Published in Nature Health, the study suggests that conversational AI is increasingly being used as an early point of contact for health concerns outside formal clinical settings.
The largest share of conversations fell into the health information and education category, accounting for 40.7% of the sample. Users frequently asked about symptoms, conditions, nutrition, treatments, and medicines, often in ways that reflected personal concerns rather than detached information-seeking.
The study found that 18.8% of conversations involved users discussing their own health conditions, while roughly one in seven personal health queries concerned someone else, such as a child, partner, or parent.
Patterns of use also varied by device and time of day. Mobile users were more likely to ask personal and emotionally sensitive questions, particularly about symptoms and well-being, with activity rising in the evening and overnight.
Desktop use, by contrast, was more closely associated with work, study, and administrative tasks, including research, documentation, and medical paperwork during office hours.
The study also points to growing use of AI for practical healthcare navigation. Beyond questions about symptoms or conditions, users turned to Copilot for help with appointments, provider access, paperwork, and understanding parts of the healthcare system that can be difficult to navigate. That suggests people are not using chatbots only for medical curiosity, but also to manage the bureaucratic and logistical side of care.
The broader significance of the findings lies in what they reveal about the changing role of conversational AI in everyday health decision-making. General-purpose chatbots are not replacing clinicians, but they are increasingly occupying the space before, between, and around formal care, where people seek quick explanations, reassurance, and guidance.
That makes questions of accuracy, safety, and health literacy more important, especially when users may act on AI-generated responses without professional context or oversight.
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