What happened

Designed to provide users with drug safety information and facilitate the reporting of adverse reactions, the MeQA app  was closed following the discovery that it produced incorrect or misleading information about medicines. 

Such inaccuracies in a healthcare context can lead to patients making unsafe decisions, potentially resulting in improper medication use, adverse health outcomes, and erosion of trust in digital health tools. 

This mirrors broader concerns about generative AI and digital health platforms, which can "hallucinate" or fabricate convincing but false information, especially in critical areas like medical advice.

Why it happened

The closure was triggered by the app's reliance on generative AI technology, which, while capable of producing humanlike and coherent responses, is prone to errors and lacks the reasoning ability to consistently ensure accuracy in complex domains like medicine. 

In the case of MeQA, these technological limitations led to the dissemination of false or misleading drug safety information, undermining the app’s core purpose.