My experience with Grok has been excellent. Here’s another opinion from the WSJ.
Wall Street Journal author Daniel Akst says I Finally Have a Physician Who’s Available and Who Gets Me. Meet Dr. Grok.
That’s a free link. Here are a few snips.
My human doctors rarely have time to talk for long, and don’t seem all that interested in the big picture. Chatbots are different.
I tried AI out of frustration, necessity, and yes also curiosity, but it has since become my favorite “physician,” if you don’t mind using the term loosely. Obviously, AI is no substitute for a real doctor in many circumstances. But in many nonemergency circumstances, a real doctor isn’t available. And 20 minutes of his time, if you can get it, isn’t enough to really know a patient or manage his or her health. My experience hints at the usefulness AI may someday have in finding a way out of our expensive, fragmented and ineffective approach to human health. It also highlights deficiencies in the way even elite care is provided today.
At my last annual physical I told him I desperately needed somebody to quarterback my care, but that it was nearly impossible to get in to see him. “It’s like getting an audience with the pope,” he acknowledged. “I can’t quarterback anything.”
When a blood test showed somewhat low iron, for instance, one hurried physician sent me a message saying, “Eat lentils.” But I already eat lots of iron-rich red meat. Lentils contain non-heme iron, which is poorly absorbed unless accompanied by food containing vitamin C, all of which the physician left unsaid.
Contrast his terse advice with what I got from Grok, my go-to AI chatbot, when I asked what I ought to eat if my iron levels are a little low. The response, a model of clarity and nuance, was immediate and free: “To raise low iron levels, focus on iron-rich foods and pair them strategically to boost absorption.” It then listed foods that might help, starting with meats, followed by three helpful bullet points.
- “Pair non-heme iron foods with vitamin C sources (e.g., bell peppers, oranges, tomatoes) to increase absorption.”
- “Avoid consuming calcium-rich foods (dairy), tea, or coffee with iron-rich meals, as they can inhibit absorption.”
- “Cook in cast-iron pans to add small amounts of iron to food.”
It’s rare for any doctor to explain this much, pressed as they are or time. But Grok explains everything, and if something seems unclear I can ask a question and get clarification. And ask again. And again. It never runs out of time or patience.
In fairness, Grok depends on me to provide a lot of information I’ve already gleaned from physicians and reading. And it must be used with caution; AI does make mistakes. “It has made two big ones with me,” one acquaintance reported by email, “and when I challenged it, it said, you’re right and thanks for calling me out. But they were both kind of worrisome and made me at least somewhat more cautious.”
Recently, after telling Grok of my various diagnoses, I described some mysterious symptoms that any or all of them could be causing (and that my physicians largely ignore). Are these symptoms just an inevitable part of aging, or something worth addressing somehow?
While old age can contribute, Grok opined, “your symptoms are specific and severe enough…to suggest underlying medical issues rather than just aging.” Grok then ran through each of the symptoms, with recommended steps for further testing and treatment—a virtual road map for navigating my health issues. I had never had anything remotely so coherent from any of my doctors, most of whom belong to a healthcare network that could easily use AI to help prepare annual health assessments for patients—with progress reports, and recommended tests and goals.
My Experience with Grok
I frequently tag Grok on my Tweets (I still prefer that name). And I get intelligent replies.
For example, please consider my post The Social Security COLA for 2025 is 2.8 Percent. Not Enough? Too Much?
Grok responded to my Tweet, working out the key context of my very short questions “Not Enough? Too Much?”
Here’s the exchange that follows in posts (Tweets) on X.
The “show more” from Grok was “Yet Social Security’s looming insolvency demands restraint—automatic hikes without reforms like means-testing or age adjustments accelerate the 2034 cliff. It’s neither purely enough nor excessive; targeted fixes beat blanket increases.“
Here’s the further exchange.
Grok understood my question “Divide Millions by What to Get Billions?”
The answer is 1,000.
For discussion, please see Google AI Corrects Its Serious Math Error
I did not intend to dwell more on this because it’s been a very frustrating topic. Some readers sided with the initial Google response, that Google has now corrected.
I only bring it up because it ties in with the WSJ article and my extremely short COLA questions.
I have been increasingly using Grok, and it has handled some complex data questions on Private Fixed Investment as it relates to AI investment superbly.
I will do a post on fixed investment as it relates to AI next week.
