first opinion
You thought text-based chatbots were risky?
Adobe
As large language models are integrated into American culture, there’s been an understandable flood of attention to the way chatbots can reinforce delusions and foster emotional dependency. But as one doctor argues in a new First Opinion essay, there’s a big difference between typing to a chatbot and literally speaking with one.
“Long before a child reads a single word in school, their brain is already wired to process speech,” Marc Augustin writes. “When an AI speaks to you, it activates something deeper and older than literacy.” Read more about the existing evidence on the impact of voice-first chatbots.
And in an AI double-whammy, check out another First Opinion essay on how the medical AI revolution requires rethinking health care’s architecture.
one big number
14%
That’s the percentage of people enrolled in ACA marketplace insurance plans that did not pay their premium in January 2026, according to a new report from the consulting group Wakely. While CMS previously found that about 5% of people disenrolled from their plans in the wake of the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits, the report authors point out that the number of people who couldn’t pay new, heightened premiums provides important context. Folks who covered their monthly bill last year were automatically enrolled in the same plan, but may stop paying and lose their coverage if they can’t afford the higher premium.
The authors estimate that there will be a total disenrollment from ACA plans between 17% to 26%, which could have major effects on the development of 2027 premium rates, and of course, on people’s health.
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