Posted on 05/27/2026 3:36:30 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Many people are turning to artificial intelligence for help with their diet. Experts weigh the potential pros and cons.
When Julie Bernstein’s doctor recently recommended that she start eating chicken and steak to get more protein, she felt a bit irritated. Ms. Bernstein, 76, had been vegan for decades, and she was not about to start eating meat again, she said. Her physician, lacking ideas on how to guide her toward vegan protein sources, suggested she turn to ChatGPT.
A few weeks later, Ms. Bernstein typed her goals into ChatGPT on her iPad and marveled at how quickly it churned out protein-forward menu ideas, grocery lists and meal-prep instructions that incorporated lentils, quinoa, protein powder and chia seeds.
“It was like a cookbook tailored for me,” said Ms. Bernstein, who lives in Harbor Springs, Mich. The responses seemed to “get” her, she said.
Since ChatGPT was released in 2022, chatbots have become a popular source of health information. In a survey of more than 5,500 U.S. adults published in April, one in four respondents said they had recently used chatbots for health guidance. Another survey, published in January, found that among 1,000 U.S. adults, a third reported having used ChatGPT or another artificial intelligence-powered tool to create nutrition or weight loss plans.
We recently asked New York Times readers to share their experiences with using chatbots for help with nutrition; more than 500 people responded. Their stories were overwhelmingly positive, with many delighting in the bots’ abilities to provide quick and helpful advice.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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A few months ago I asked Grok about a chewie recipe i was making for my dogs.
I don’t like AI and I don’t use it, but I thought I’d give it a shot to be fair.
I plugged in the ingredients and asked if it was healthy.
I already knew the nutrition and ingredients were well balanced for my dogs in the serving size.
Grok basically got most of it wrong and I had to point out his errors until he agreed I was right.
I wouldn’t use it for people advice.
No. Nor any other kind of advice.
You should only take advice from pseudonymous internet dudes.
After one night in Bangkok.
I just do what the dog tells me.
Just the other day, I asked ChatGPT if it thought yogurt was Gluten Free. It answered the yogurt probably isn’t but if it has the crumbs sprinkled on top, those might be.
You just need to know how to ask it.
Jackie Gleason (1916 - 1987)
Just to clarify, it was telling me yogurt itself is probably Gluten Free. It’s what’s mixed in with it that could be harmful.
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