At a Make America Healthy Again summit, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told a fireside chat audience that AI would let Americans escape the 'medical tyranny' of doctors and health experts. He claimed AI is better informed than any doctor and would back his views on masks, social distancing, and vaccines.
Ars Technica tested those claims with Google's Gemini and ChatGPT. Both chatbots affirmed that masks reduce the spread of respiratory infections, social distancing is effective, and vaccines can prevent infection and transmission, with caveats about quality and variation. That directly contradicts Kennedy's suggestion that AI would support his contrarian positions.
The event itself drew criticism. Sponsored by OpenAI, Anthropic, Walmart, and Grail, with sponsorship packages up to $300,000, the summit also included health insurers and drugmakers. Some MAHA supporters, such as Robert Malone, said the event betrayed the movement's original mission of opposing corporate influence.