A man asked AI for health advice and it cooked every brain cell
Why Hacker News recommends it
Used in AI threads as a cautionary example of harm from LLM self-diagnosis, though some commenters cite it as part of broader criticism of AI.
What it is
Chubbyemu presents a case study of a man who followed AI health advice, replaced salt with sodium bromide and developed bromism with severe neurological effects. It is told as a dramatized medical case by a doctor.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2025 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec iLoveOncall · 2026-01 · on “Introducing ChatGPT Health”
Since there are a lot of positive comments at the top (not surprising given the astroturfing on HN), please watch this video from ChubbyEmu, a real doctor, about a case study from someone who self-diagnosed using AI: [this video] For every positive experience there are many more that are negative, if not life threatening or simply deadly.
Strong rec Imustaskforhelp · 2026-01 · on “Google: Don't make "bite-sized" content for LLMs”
xD I am not even kidding but there is a guy who viewed twitter, found that table salt Aka sodium chloride is "bad for health" and the medical study recommends that if thats the case then they should less the consumption But he ends up asking chatgpt and it somehow recommends him the idea of sodium bromide instead of sodium chloride and it really ended up having him have so many hallucinations and so many other problems that the list goes on. I found this from a video, definitely worth a watch [this video] A man asked AI for health advice and it cooked every brain cell
Cites lenerdenator · 2025-12 · on “I misused LLMs to diagnose myself and ended up bedridden for a week”
I think you'll see this happen a lot more. Not just in the US where docs cost money, but anywhere there's a shortage of docs and/or it's a pain in the butt to go to one. YouTuber ChubbyEmu (who makes medical case reviews in a somewhat entertaining and accessible format) recently released a video about a man who suffered a case of brominism (which almost never happens anymore) after consulting an LLM. [0] [0] [this video]
Cites Joel_Mckay · 2026-01 · on “My Mom and Dr. DeepSeek (2025)”
Indeed, real doctors have the advantage of understanding how to treat humans that are incapacitated. =3 [this video]
Critical Joel_Mckay · 2025-12 · on “Is it a bubble?”
LLM slop doesn't have aspirations at all, its just click bait nonsense. [LINK] Drives people insane: [this video] And LLM are economically and technologically unsustainable: [LINK] These have already proven it will be unconstrained if AGI ever emerges. [LINK] The LLM bubble will pass, as it is already losing money with every new user. =3
Critical Joel_Mckay · 2025-12 · on “If AI replaces workers, should it also pay taxes?”
If a task involves zero workmanship, than the opportunity cost is near $0 anyway. To be clear, LLM is not real "AI", not sustainable, and already losing money with every new user. An imperfect mirror shows only the irrational what they wish to see. [this video] I look forward to likely having a cluster of heavily discounted GPUs in a few years. =3
Critical Joel_Mckay · 2026-01 · on “The No Fakes Act Has a "Fingerprinting" Trap That Kills Open Source”
These firms can do what they like if and only if they pay for every $7B reactor, the 30k year waste stewardship, and disconnect from community resources people paid for with taxes. However, currently the unethical burden cities with the endless bill for resources, contribute no actual value, and one may spot the data center waste heat signatures and industrial run-off from space. Consider most "AI" firms lost on average $4.50 for every new user, rely on overt piracy, and delusional boards sand-bagging for time... these LLM businesses are simply unsustainable fictions. Many problems don't have simple answers, but one may merely profit by their predictable nature. I would recommend volunteerin
Critical Joel_Mckay · 2026-01 · on “Please Don't Say Mean Things about the AI I Just Invested a Billion Dollars In”
LLM is not real AI, would take 75% of our galaxy energy to reach human level error rates, and is economically a fiction.... but it doesn't have to be "AGI" to cause real harm. [LINK] The damage is already clear =3 [LINK] [this video] [LINK]