- A UF-led study of nearly 100,000 young adults found an association between using generative AI for health-related questions and screening positive for clinically significant anxiety and depression.
- Young adults who used AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude for health questions had 52% greater odds of screening positive for anxiety and 46% greater odds for depression.
- The findings do not show that AI use causes anxiety or depression but point to the need for more research into how young people use AI to understand health symptoms and concerns.
Young adults who use generative artificial intelligence to ask health-related questions are more likely to screen positive for clinically significant anxiety and depression than those not using the AI tool for health issues, according to anew studyled by University of Florida researcher Yusen Zhai.
The study, one of the first large U.S. studies to examine the relationship between generative AI use and mental health, analyzed data from nearly 100,000 young adults. Researchers found that the odds of screening positive for clinically significant anxiety and depression were 52% and 46% greater for people who reported using generative AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude for health-related questions.
The findings show an association between the two behaviors. They do not establish that using generative AI causes anxiety or depression, or that people with anxiety or depression are necessarily more likely to use AI for health questions.
Zhai, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the UF College of Education, said he was intrigued by the findings because concerns about AI in education often center on how the students use it for assignments and productivity. His research focuses on AI, mental health and the ways technology can be used to identify and address mental health risks.
“We are learning that young people are turning to AI, especially generative AI systems, when they feel worried or vulnerable or are trying to understand their health symptoms,” he said. “We need to understand if there are underlying issues or associations, which is what the current study begins to address.”
Among people in the study who used generative AI for health-related questions, about 52% screened positive for anxiety, compared with about 43% among those who did not use AI for health questions. For depression, the figures were about 47% and 38%, respectively.
The association remained after researchers accounted for factors including age, race and ethnicity, biological sex and socioeconomic status.
Zhai said the results raise questions about what happens when people repeatedly turn to AI while they are worried about their health.
One possible pattern begins with uncertainty about symptoms. A person asks for reassurance from an AI system, receives an answer and then develops additional questions or uncertainties. That can lead to another question, followed by another answer and potentially another round of questioning.
“That kind of repeated cycle could reinforce rumination, health anxiety or other distress,” Zhai said.
The conversational nature of generative AI makes that cycle different from a traditional internet search, he said. A search engine generally provides links to information, while generative AI can synthesize information and respond directly to follow-up questions.
That interaction can feel persuasive because AI responses are often conversational and confident, even when the information is incomplete, inaccurate or misleading.
“The scary part to me is that young people may have difficulty identifying an incorrect piece of information when it is blended into an otherwise plausible response,” Zhai said.
The study is based on data collected from 2023 to 2024, relatively early in the widespread adoption of generative AI. These AI chatbots had only become more broadly available when the survey was conducted, Zhai said. As use of generative AI has expanded since then, the behavior may have become more common.
That makes the findings an early indication rather than a complete picture of how young people use AI for health information today, he said.
The direction of the relationship also requires future investigations. Young people experiencing anxiety or depression may be more likely to turn to AI as a first step in seeking information or support. At the same time, repeatedly seeking reassurance from AI could potentially reinforce worry for some users.
“It’s hard to say AI is bad or wrong,” Zhai said. “AI could be a way for students to seek help.”
He said the more important question is how people use the technology, and he recommends that young people pay attention to how they feel after using generative AI for health questions.
“If an interaction leaves someone feeling more informed and able to take a constructive next step,” Zhai said, “that may be different from an interaction that prompts a desire to repeatedly ask the same questions — and that awareness is part of developing AI literacy.”
Mental health professionals also may need to ask clients how they are using generative AI and help them evaluate information they receive from it, Zhai said.
Universities could incorporate similar guidance into broader AI literacy efforts, including helping students identify trustworthy health information and understand the limitations of AI-generated answers.
“The problem is not generative AI itself,” Zhai said. “It’s the ‘how’ question — how people use it.”
