New research paper: How people use Copilot for health

There's nothing more important than your health.

Our 2025 Copilot Usage Report revealed that people talk about their health, and the conditions of their loved ones, more than any other topic on mobile.

Inspired by this finding, we decided to carry out an in-depth analysis of over half a million health and wellbeing-related conversations people had with Copilot over the course of January 2026.

This research shows not only the breadth and depth of people's engagement with AI for their health, but how AI can show up through the growing cracks in our healthcare systems. It shows people changing topics over the course of the day, how AI supports squeezed family members, and helps cut through the complexity of navigating healthcare choices. In all this, it highlights the critical importance of accuracy, reliability, and trust.

As with all our usage reports and conversation analysis, we adopt a strict privacy-preserving approach. All conversations are de-identified at source, and we rely on an automated workflow that extracts topics and intents. No human reads user conversations as part of this process.

Although this research underwrites the importance of health in AI, what we found challenged many assumptions - people aren't just asking general health questions. In nearly 1 in 5 conversations, people describe their own symptoms, get help interpreting their own test results, or managing their own conditions. And people aren't just asking for themselves, but for the people who depend on them. Here are some highlights:

What People Ask About

People go to Copilot above all for information. They want the facts, fast and tailored to them. Around 40% of questions focus on understanding symptoms, medical conditions, and treatments. Questions framed in general terms may well reflect a user's own health concern rather than casual curiosity, and the true share of personal health questions may be higher. In a landscape where information asymmetry and health misinformation remain widespread, people want trusted and easy to understand explanations drawn from credible sources.

Meaningful interactions go far beyond general knowledge. One of the most common reasons people turn to Copilot (10.9% of health questions) is to interpret symptoms (often new or unexpected) and to understand laboratory or imaging results. While safe interpretation still relies on qualified clinicians, these are practical, often time-sensitive questions where people feel they need clear, credible explanations before taking the next steps.

Personalized lifestyle and fitness coaching drive significant engagement (9% of queries), with nutrition and exercise the top two sub-categories. What stands out here is the shift from generic advice to tailored, ongoing guidance - the kind of personalized support that traditional internet search tools don't provide.

People also use Copilot to navigate the healthcare system (5.8% of health questions touch on healthcare navigation, insurance, or benefits). Users want to find local clinicians matching their medical concerns, location, and insurance coverage. They want help understanding benefits, comparing care options, and managing medical paperwork. In these stressful moments, Copilot functions as a guide through an often-opaque system, helping people feel more prepared and confident in their decisions.