Marketplace®
Every story is an economic story

The cyberchondriac problem

Self-diagnosis for health problems using the Internet leads many Americans to conclude they have a rare illness.

Many Americans mistakenly conclude they have a rare illness after attempting self-diagnosis on the Internet, according to a recent study by researchers are Microsoft. The company conducted the study to improve its own search engine.

Microsoft studied health-related Web searches on popular search engines and surveyed 500 of its employees about their health-related searching. Microsoft’s Eric Horvitz, an artificial intelligence expert and medical school grad, says Web search engines can increase our health-related anxieties and lead us to believe worst-case scenarios.

Latest Episodes

View All Shows
  • Marketplace
    9 hours ago
    25:22
  • Marketplace Morning Report
    17 hours ago
    7:09
  • Million Bazillion
    21 hours ago
    30:57
  • Marketplace Tech
    21 hours ago
    12:45
  • This Is Uncomfortable
    6 days ago
    28:44
  • Make Me Smart
    4 months ago
    24:33