Elon Musk's Grok diagnoses fracture missed by doctors, US woman claims in viral post

A US-based woman claimed that Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, diagnosed her daughter's fracture -- something medical doctors reportedly missed.

In Short

• A US-based woman claimed Grok identified daughter's fracture missed by doctors
• She shared the screenshots of AI chatbot conversation in a post on X
• Grok detected a fracture in the distal radius from the X-ray images

A US-based woman claimed that Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, correctly identified her daughter's fracture -- something medical professionals reportedly missed. The revelation, shared in a post on X, has sparked debate over AI's potential role in healthcare.

AJ Kay recounted that her daughter had been involved in a serious car accident. Though she initially walked away seemingly unscathed, her daughter soon complained of severe arm pain.

"One of my daughters was in a bad car accident last weekend. The car was totalled but she walked away. Everyone involved did, thankfully. It was a best case outcome for a serious, multi-vehicle freeway collision," she said.

A visit to an urgent care centre, complete with X-rays, led to a diagnosis of no fracture. Doctors sent her home with painkillers and an ace wrap.

"So we got to Urgent Care, and they examined her and took some x-rays. Both the doctor who saw her and the radiologist declared her free of breaks and, after answering some of our questions, sent her home with an ace wrap and ibuprofen. On the way out, I asked them to please print out the X-ray images for us, so I could take them to her PCP. I hoped they were right, but wasn’t sold," she said.

However, Kay grew concerned as her daughter's condition worsened. Her daughter's wrist appeared deformed, her hand felt cold and tingly, and she struggled to move her thumb. Unsatisfied with the initial diagnosis, Kay turned to Elon Musk's AI tool, Grok, after recalling Musk's claim that the chatbot could analyse medical images.

"I poured over x-rays of normal wrists and broken wrists and, remembering a post from a few weeks ago by @elonmusk that Grok2 could read medical images, I uploaded the wrist X-ray to Grok and asked if there were any abnormalities," she said in her post.

Grok's response was alarming yet validating: "There's a clear fracture line in the distal radius."

Kay then sought a second opinion from a wrist specialist. The expert confirmed Grok's assessment -- a distal radius head fracture with dorsal displacement. The specialist warned that any further delay could have led to surgery, but due to Grok's timely detection, proper treatment was promptly administered.

Take a look at the post here:

The incident has sparked mixed reactions online. While several users praised Grok, others raised concerns over the possibility of AI's intervention in the healthcare system.

"Amazing that Grok was so confident in the diagnosis," a user said, while another user added, "Wow. Grok is going to be insane. AI is going to help doctors diagnose and treat."

"Weird. I uploaded a medical image and Grok said that it was not capable of reading the image. I asked if it could analyse an x-ray and it said no. It was only capable of text-based searches," one of the users said.

See the comments here:

While some celebrate Grok's unexpected medical prowess, others are wary of placing too much trust in AI for critical diagnosis. Regardless, this story has undoubtedly triggered conversations about the evolving role of artificial intelligence in modern healthcare.