After a life-threatening rare autoimmune clotting disorder left Rich Kaplan facing kidney damage, his prescribed medication stalled for months because an insurer demanded evidence the drug worked for a condition as uncommon as catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome. Kaplan used ChatGPT to assemble a referenced synthesis of trials, case reports, and studies, paired with a plain-language note explaining what was at stake; the packet ultimately helped secure approval through third-party arbitration. Since then, he has used ChatGPT as a practical tool for navigating the ongoing complexity of chronic illness, checking potential drug interactions against his medication list, flagging risks tied to kidney disease, and translating dense medical records into clear summaries and questions for clinicians. For Kaplan, the value is agency: turning scattered information and bureaucratic friction into actionable support that helps him pursue better care and stay actively involved in his own health decisions.

After breast cancer, Allison Leeds found that medicine could explain a surgical plan but offered little guidance on what recovery would feel like day to day, emotionally. She began using ChatGPT in early 2025 to synthesize more than 11,000 patient experiences drawn from public forums, then paired those insights with research in color science and neuroaesthetics to explore how visual environments can shape stress and pain. The result became a new tool for recovery: weekly art cards that combine color palettes with mantras, designed to arrive in cadence with the hardest parts of healing. Shared with support groups, the cards quickly resonated with patients and caregivers and grew into Leeds’s business, built between surgeries with AI acting as a research partner and product scaffold. Her broader body of work, The Healing Spectrum, is now exhibited at SFMOMA, extending the same idea: recovery needs information for the heart, not only the body.