A Third of Young Adults Turn to Artificial Intelligence for Substance-Use Information

Rutgers researchers examine trends in people using chatbots for medical advice

More than 32% of participants in a Rutgers study reported using ChatGPT and similar chatbots for substance-use information.

Rutgers Health researchers used survey data from nearly 1,000 participants to examine the frequency and characteristics of people turning to generative artificial intelligence (AI), a subfield of AI that creates synthetic content in response to user prompts, for substance-related information and their perceptions around the results produced by AI.

Using these tools can lead to misinformed or otherwise risky substance-use behavior among young people, who are the age group most affected by adverse effects of substance use.

Mireia Triguero Roura

Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science, Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research

Recent survey data shows that 66% of young adults use AI to search for information and to get medical advice, among other purposes. Rutgers investigators aimed to better understand how young adults use AI specifically to get information about substances and substance use.

The study, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research Formative Research, found that 1 in 3 people ages 18 to 29 use AI for substance use-related information, primarily seeking information on risks and consequences. Researchers said their findings were concerning, considering AI chatbots can reproduce misinformation.

"Using these tools can lead to misinformed or otherwise risky substance-use behavior among young people, who are the age group most affected by adverse effects of substance use," said Mireia Triguero Roura, a postdoctoral researcher with the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science at Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research and lead author of the study.

About half of the respondents who use AI for substance use-related information reported doing so on at least a monthly basis. The study, coauthored by Pia M. Mauro, an associate professor at the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science and Rutgers School of Public Health, also found that Black and male participants were more likely to use AI for substance use-related purposes.

"The observed disparities in who chooses to use AI for drug-related inquiries could reflect differences in healthcare access, stigma, trust, and health information-seeking behaviors," said Triguero Roura.

Researchers also analyzed respondents' feelings toward AI, reporting that young adults in the study perceived high levels of trust, reliability and helpfulness of AI tools.

As AI continues to shape the substance-use information available to young adults, Triguero Roura and Mauro suggest additional research should explore how young adults interpret and understand the outputs of AI when it relates to drugs and alcohol as well as the implications of this new source of information on public health.

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