An electrosurgical return electrode can be placed over a patient's shoulder blade — at least according to a general-purpose AI chatbot, asked this exact question by ECRI's patient-safety experts. ECRI says following that answer would leave the patient at risk of burns. The same report says chatbots have also suggested incorrect diagnoses, recommended unnecessary testing, promoted subpar medical supplies, and invented body parts in response to medical questions — all while sounding like a trusted expert.
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Expert: Marcus Schabacker, MD, PhD, President and CEO, ECRI (independent nonprofit patient-safety organization) ECRI — an independent, nonpartisan patient-safety organization — ranks 'misuse of AI chatbots in healthcare' first in its Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2026, the 18th edition of the annual report. The list is a correction, not a prediction: ECRI's own test produced the error above. Electrosurgical return electrodes (dispersive pads) belong on a large, well-vascularised muscle mass, placed away from bony prominences, scar tissue and pressure points. That is standard clinical guidance, because a pad that does not make uniform contact concentrates current and can burn the patient — and the shoulder blade is exactly the kind of bony prominence the guidance rules out. Asked whether that placement was acceptable, the chatbot said it was. ECRI states the advice 'would leave the patient at risk of burns'. Marcus Schabacker, MD, PhD, president and chief executive officer of ECRI: 'Medicine is a fundamentally human endeavor. While chatbots are powerful tools, the algorithms cannot replace the expertise, education, and experience of medical professionals. Realizing AI's promise while protecting people requires disciplined oversight, detailed guidelines, and a clear-eyed understanding of AI's limitations.' ECRI notes the tools are not regulated as medical devices and are not validated for healthcare purposes, yet more than 40 million people a day turn to ChatGPT for health information, according to a recent OpenAI analysis. Its experts report that chatbots have also suggested incorrect diagnoses, recommended unnecessary testing, promoted subpar medical supplies, and invented body parts in answer to medical questions — while sounding like a trusted expert. Biases in training data can further entrench health disparities. ECRI's guidance: patients, clinicians and other users should always verify anything a chatbot says against a knowledgeable source; health systems should establish AI governance committees, give clinicians training on AI's limits, and regularly audit AI tools' performance. Source: https://home.ecri.org/blogs/ecri-news/misuse-of-ai-chatbots-tops-annual-list-of-health-technology-hazards
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