One man's life was undeniably changed thanks to the introduction of AI, as he used Elon Musk's 'Grok' tool to spot a major life-threatening infection that real-life doctors completely missed, saving his life in the process.
Most of the applications of AI on average are simple prompts that don't go too far beyond a search engine or word processing tool, and while some of the biggest companies are planning to replace key coding staff with AI agents, many accept that the technology isn't quite there yet.
Some still argue that artificial intelligence is more capable than it might seem though, and it could even have the power to save your life in a way that some human professionals could have missed.
AI experts have previously asserted that the medical world is one area that AI could never fully replace – albeit more due to the ethical and regulatory considerations than the eventual capabilities of AI – yet some doctors are already seeing their decades-long experience matched by certain generative tools.
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As reported by Supercar Blondie, one man took advantage of a less specialized AI tool to solve a medical problem that he was convinced existed, and it ended up saving his life in the process.
One 49-year-old Norwegian man shared on Reddit how a late-night conversation with Elon Musk's AI tool Grok 'saved his life', as it prompted him to demand a CT scan that identified a ruptured appendix that his doctors had missed.
"For 24 straight hours I had constant, razor-blade-level pain in my stomach," he explains. "Couldn't lie flat, could only get minor relief sitting on the floor with knees to chest. No fever, no blood, nothing dramatic on the outside."
He explains how upon going to the ER he was simply given an acid blocker and sent home, and that prompted him to seek alternative advice from a familiar tool.
Revealing his symptoms to Grok, the AI model "immediately flagged perforated ulcer or atypical appendicitis, told me the exact red-flag pattern I was describing, and basically said 'go back right now and ask for a CT'."
Thankfully the doctors were receptive when he relayed what Grok had told him, and the results were exactly what the AI had predicted.
"Appendix was inflamed and close to rupturing. Six-hour laparoscopic surgery later, it's out. Pain is 100% gone. I woke up laughing about anesthesia. I'm alive and healed because an AI recognized the pattern when the first exam missed it, and because I had the exact words to make them take me seriously the second time," he illustrated.
Elon Musk himself has previously urged people to use Grok for medical advice, yet many other medical experts have advised people to not entirely rely on these AI tools as they could miss key issues.
It's undeniable the impact that Grok had in this particular case though, and the specific information he was provided managed to be convincing enough to get the CT scan that saved his life.