Using Google and AI safely for medical information

One of the main aims of the Psoriasis Association is to support people by providing reliable, up-to-date information.

After receiving a diagnosis of psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis, or being prescribed a new medication, many people head straight to Google, but it’s important to understand how to identify the best quality information, and where it comes from.

When researching topics on the internet, Google now provides an ‘AI overview’ of the question asked. Like the example below, Google has started to show a summary answer at the top of the page, using knowledge pulled from multiple places across the internet – which is not always trustworthy.

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How can I make sure I’m accessing good-quality information about psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis?

1. Check the AI source directly - While the AI summary feature has been designed to save you time, it’s still important to access each of the sources directly to make sure the AI answer hasn’t been taken out of context. You can go directly to the source of each point on the AI summary by clicking the ‘link’ icon (🔗) next to each point.
   
2. Read other people’s experiences – AI summaries can sometimes be biased, depending on how the answers are sourced. The Psoriasis Association forums can be a great place to get a well-rounded view from real people, instead of taking an AI summary at face value.
   
3. Make sure the source is PIF tick certified – The Psoriasis Association is proudly PIF tick certified. Whenever you spot the handy PIF Tick logo across our leaflets and information sheets, you can be certain that the resources have been through the in-depth PIF tick assessment process. To be approved, we had to demonstrate our health information meets the above criteria as well as receiving professional input, detailed reviews and is easy to understand.

Following an investigation into Google AI health overviews that was published in The Guardian earlier this month, The Patient Information Forum (PIF) are now working with The Guardian to assess the impact of AI overviews on patient organisations.