A trending story on X highlighted a controversial post by X user Kate Miller, who pointed out the difference between the Google AI Overview answers about a racial preference for a black doctor and a white doctor. “According to Google it is OK to only want a Black doctor, but not a White doctor. @Google produces clearly different answers based on race. This is peak woke,” she wrote.
Miller posted two screenshots, one of which showed the AI overview answer to a Google query asking “is it ok to only want a white doctor?” “No, wanting a doctor only because they are white is not considered ethically acceptable, as it is based on racial bias or discrimination rather than medical qualifications,” the AI Overview response said.
The other screenshot showed another query which said “Is it ok to only want a black doctor?” This time, the answer said “Yes, it is entirely valid and reasonable to want a black doctor.”
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According to X’s trending page, similar inconsistencies appeared in queries about Democrat, Republican, and Jewish doctors, with sources ranging from BMJ Blogs to Reddit threads. Google responded that teams are investigating the issue, attributing it to specific web pages rather than general model behavior, as the variation stems from how the AI synthesizes online sources.
A similar controversy came up in May when Find a Black Doctor, a physician directory created to help Black patients connect with Black healthcare providers, was targeted by a federal lawsuit alleging racial discrimination. Conservative medical advocacy group Do No Harm joined Colorado dermatologist Dr. Travis Morrell in accusing the platform of excluding non-Black physicians from its directory. According to the complaint, the site limits eligibility to “Black physicians and dentists in active clinical practice,” which the plaintiffs argue violates anti-discrimination laws.
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However, the reason for such preferences might be more complex than made out to be.
According to studies, minorities in the U.S. often perceive racism in the healthcare system, and those who do are more likely to prefer a physician of their own race or ethnicity. Platforms like Find a Black Doctor are reportedly built around the idea of “racial concordance,” which centers on the idea that shared lived experiences and cultural understanding can improve patient trust and communication. People defending those platforms have pointed out that Black people make only 5% of doctors in the U.S. and systemic bias, gaps in treatment, and unequal access to culturally competent care have led to disparities in healthcare outcomes.