“Elon Musk recently encouraged people to submit medical images like x-rays, PET scans, and MRIs to Grok for analysis, noting that while the system is still in its early stages, it's already quite accurate and improving. He requested feedback on Grok’s performance. However, Grok’s performance revealed some shortcomings. Though it successfully analyzed blood test results and detected breast cancer in some instances, doctors pointed out significant errors. One physician reported that Grok misidentified a classic case of tuberculosis as a herniated disk or spinal stenosis. Another incident involved the bot mistaking a mammogram of a benign breast cyst for an image of testicles. For years, Musk has been interested in the intersections of healthcare and AI. In 2022, he founded the brain-chip startup Neuralink, and by February, claimed that it had allowed a person to control a computer mouse with their mind. Furthermore, Musk’s tech startup, xAI, which aided in creating Grok, raised $6 billion in funding this May, offering ample capital for investing in healthcare technologies.

How Grok will evolve in the medical field remains uncertain. Dr. Laura Heacock of NYU Langone Health suggested the technical potential exists, but pointed out that commitment to developing medical imaging capabilities will be needed. At present, she noted that traditional, non-generative AI methods still outperform AI like Grok in medical imaging. Despite requests from Fortune, X did not provide a comment on the matter. Experts have advised caution regarding Musk’s goal of using AI for medical diagnoses. Ryan Tarzy, CEO of Avandra Imaging, mentioned that asking users to input their data directly could speed up Grok’s development. Nonetheless, this approach relies on a limited dataset that may not reflect the diversity of the medical field. Medical information shared on social media isn’t protected by HIPAA, creating potential privacy risks, especially since personal health details in images could unknowingly be shared. Matthew McCoy from the University of Pennsylvania added that the full extent of Grok’s privacy risks is unclear due to potential undisclosed privacy protections by X. He cautioned users about sharing medical information online, emphasizing they do so at their own risk. "