More than half of the residents in the Balearic Islands use AI to make inquiries about their health.

PalmAccording to the study, 70.2% of residents in the Balearic Islands have admitted to using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make inquiries about their health. The dangers of digital self-diagnosis, from Línea Directa. The figure for the Archipelago is slightly above the state average (66.4%), which rises to 90% in the case of young people between 16 and 19 years old.

This is also the case with the frequent or very frequent use of AI for health consultations, which stands at 18.5% in Spain and 21.2% in the Balearic Islands (behind Catalonia, Murcia, and the Canary Islands). The study also reveals that 31.9% of Balearic Islanders self-diagnose digitally before visiting a doctor, also higher than the 24.8% recorded for the country as a whole. Professor Ruth Castillo of Camilo José Cela University (UCJC) explained during a virtual press conference that, among the older population, its use is around 40%, and that availability, speed, and immediacy are the main reasons for using these tools. "Young people aged 16 to 34 also report perceiving artificial intelligence as a more intimate space where they feel more heard," stated Castillo, an expert in emotional intelligence and child and adolescent development.

Following this, she explained that women and young people are the population group "most sensitive" to social judgment and that they are precisely the ones who most perceive that AI "doesn't judge them when they want to consult" about their concerns or worries. One of the main conclusions of the study is that the population increasingly prioritizes self-diagnosis with AI over diagnosis by a healthcare professional, with one in four self-diagnosing digitally.