A Nigerian woman, Toluwanimi Blessing Ibitoye-Fatola, has triggered an online debate after raising concerns over what she describes as a growing reliance on Artificial Intelligence (AI) by medical personnel in Nigerian hospitals.
In a social media post that quickly gained traction, Ibitoye-Fatola shared her recent hospital experience, alleging that medical practitioners are typing patients’ symptoms into ChatGPT to formulate diagnoses and prescribe follow-up questions.
Patient raises concerns over AI reliance during consultations
Sharing her experience, Ibitoye-Fatola questioned the necessity of paying expensive consultation fees if healthcare providers rely on free public AI tools during clinical evaluations.
“Have you noticed that whenever you go to the hospital and you are speaking to some doctors, the doctor is typing everything on ChatGPT, gives you the response or next question from AI, and I’m seated wondering why I didn’t speak to AI myself for free,” she wrote.
She added that she caught a glimpse of the AI interface on a doctor’s mobile device while at the facility, prompting her to question the physician’s professional background.
Connecting the trend to broader healthcare challenges in Nigeria, she expressed concern that the ongoing brain drain—popularly referred to as japa—might be affecting the quality of remaining personnel in domestic health institutions.
Medical professionals respond and offer alternative explanations
The viral post drew swift reactions from medical professionals and public health advocates, many of whom offered alternative explanations for why a doctor might be typing on a digital screen during a patient consultation.
Several doctors noted that modern hospitals increasingly utilise Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software on phones, tablets, or computer monitors to log patient histories, review lab results, or cross-reference drug interactions.
However, standing by her original claim, Ibitoye-Fatola edited her post to clarify that the incident did not involve standard EMR software:
“Mind you, this isn’t EMR,” she maintained. “There is a large screen right in front of the doctor which has all the patient details, and then he keeps looking and typing repeatedly on his phone alongside the screen.”
While health experts acknowledge that AI clinical support tools are increasingly entering global medical practice as reference aids, the incident has highlighted growing public debate surrounding data privacy, clinical judgment, and patient trust in modern digital healthcare settings.
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