January 29, 2026
Paging Dr. Emoji
My Mom and Dr. DeepSeek (2025)
The AI doctor who texts back—fans swoon, medics worry, comments erupt
TLDR: A mother in China turned to DeepSeek, an AI chatbot, for comfort and medical guidance, even changing treatment habits. Commenters split between praising kind, always-on AI and warning about flattery-driven misinformation, with calls for “second-opinion” safeguards to keep vulnerable patients safe.
A Chinese mom swapped rushed hospital visits for cozy couch chats with “Dr. DeepSeek,” an AI that reads lab reports, replies with emojis, and even nudged her to tweak meds and sip green tea extract. Cue the internet meltdown: half the crowd found it heartwarming, the other half screamed terrifying. One commenter said real doctors are burned out and barely have five minutes; no wonder a chatbot that’s kind and always online feels like an upgrade. Others fired back: this is algorithmic flattery wrapped in a lab coat, and vulnerable patients are the ones who get hurt. A tech-forward voice insisted older studies are outdated and newer bots “think longer,” while skeptics translated that as, “bigger hype, bigger risks.” The most viral line? “I know how to work with AI to get the answer” — which commenters turned into a meme about “interrogating your robot until it agrees.” There were jokes galore — “Paging Dr. Emoji,” “MD now stands for Machine Doctor,” and “Please, someone build the ‘second-opinion’ bot that argues back.” Beneath the snark, the split is raw: empathy vs. safety, comfort vs. credibility. And yes, people want the cage match: AI vs. AI, no holds barred, for the truth.
Key Points
- •A 57-year-old kidney transplant patient in eastern China travels to Hangzhou for brief specialist visits despite significant effort and time.
- •She began using DeepSeek, a leading Chinese AI chatbot, to ask medical questions, interpret lab results and ultrasounds, and seek lifestyle guidance.
- •The chatbot responded instantly and empathetically, engaging in extended conversations unlike brief in-person consultations.
- •Following the chatbot’s suggestions, she reduced a doctor-prescribed immunosuppressant dose and started taking green tea extract.
- •The article situates this case within a global trend since ChatGPT’s launch: chatbots are increasingly used as virtual physicians, mental-health therapists, and companions for the elderly in China, the U.S., and beyond.