# AI can copilot your health, but it shouldn't drive

> Most young adults now ask a chatbot before they ask a doctor, and an Aflac president says that's the wrong seat for it.
- Title: AI can copilot your health, but it shouldn't drive · Fortune
- Summary: Most young adults now ask a chatbot before they ask a doctor, and an Aflac president says that's the wrong seat for it. Use AI to prepare for care, not to…
- Keywords: healthcare, cancer screening, preventive care, insurance, copilot, health, shouldn't, drive, Fortune
- Source: Fortune — https://fortune.com/2026/09/10/aflac-president-why-ai-shouldnt-drive-your-healthcare
- Author: Virgil Miller
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: ai, healthcare, cancer screening, preventive care, insurance
## Cancer talk meets the chatbot
Fall brings awareness campaigns and survivor stories every year. This time it lands in the middle of a bigger shift in how Americans look for health answers.
## AI is the new first stop
A recent study found 76% of Gen Z adults and 63% of millennials go to AI as their first line of primary healthcare, before they ever see a doctor.

> 76% of Gen Z adults and 63% of millennials now turn to AI as their first line of primary healthcare
## Knowing isn't doing
You can decode symptoms and medical terms in seconds. That still doesn't tell you what to do next, and with cancer a physician spots links in symptoms that look unrelated.

> knowing more is not the same as knowing what to do next
## Two-thirds still skip screenings
Nearly two-thirds of Americans delay recommended screenings. Not from ignorance, but because life gets busy, the result is scary, or they feel fine so why bother.
## What AI cannot do
It can compare screening options and prep your questions. It cannot drive you to the appointment, run a mammogram or colonoscopy, or read your full history.

> It cannot perform a mammogram or a colonoscopy.
## A person beats a screen
Research on screening behavior found people treat nudging a loved one as an act of love, and that nudge changes their own behavior. Be the leader of your health.

> the most powerful health intervention tool is not information coming out of a screen
## Key takeaway

Use AI to prepare for care, not to replace it. The thing that actually gets people screened is a person who cares about them asking if they went.