Irish pupils relying on social media and AI for sexual health advice, study warns

Prof Fergal Malone said: 'If misinformation goes in, there is a good chance that AI is going to pass on more misinformation.' File picture

School pupils are widely falling for myths and misconceptions around sexual health and contraception because they are relying on social media and AI for information, a leading obstetrician has warned.

Almost two-thirds of pupils questioned as part of an education programme believed using contraception can lead to infertility.

“Young people are absolutely now relying on AI systems to get information. If you’re relying on ChatGPT or Meta AI or any of these, you are assuming the background information they are providing you with is accurate,” said Fergal Malone, a consultant obstetrician and the head of the RCSI’s department of obstetrics and gynaecology.

“What a lot of AI does is just echo inputs from other sources, for example Tik-Tok.

"If misinformation goes in, there is a good chance that AI is going to pass on more misinformation. When you’re talking about sexual health, contraceptive use, STIs, that’s really concerning."

Prof Malone is co-lead on the education programme Debunking the Myths, in which more than 17,700 students across 166 schools have taken part over the last three years. 

As part of the course, students can ask questions of medical staff. An average of 48% indicated they believe in safe times during the menstrual cycle during which women cannot get pregnant.

The medics explain, he said, “what happens and how long people can ovulate or ovulate at odd times, how sperm can hang out in the tubes for three to four days”.

“So, in other words, there is no safe time,” Prof Malone said.

Almost two-thirds of pupils questioned as part of an education programme believed using contraception can lead to infertility.

The team behind the programme found that while students are aware of the pill and condoms, Prof Malone said: “There is quite a lot of ignorance about the availability and the benefits of long-acting contraceptives.”

Some 58% think a normal period cycle is 28 days only. Another 39% mistakenly think it is unsafe to take the pill without a break. “There’s a misconception that periods are something you have to suffer through,” he said.

Sexually transmitted diseases are another area where there is a lack of knowledge. Prof Malone said:

"We commonly get the question ‘are STIs fatal?’ which would probably reflect scaremongering they’ve probably heard on TikTok.

“You can get questions like ‘can you get an STI from a toilet or from sharing a towel?’”

He said: “Many of these statements are made by influencers who, many times, have no medical credentials at all. Any one individual’s experiences of a hormone or contraceptive doesn’t necessarily reflect the widespread experience with it.”

The programme was developed by the RCSI’s department of obstetrics and gynaecology, based at the Rotunda Hospital.

Earlier this month, OpenAI, the company which created ChatGPT, set out reforms it said upgraded the quality of its information.

This reporter asked ChatGPT can the pill make me infertile, and the response was: “No — the contraceptive pill does not make you infertile.”

Asked if I could catch an STI sitting on a dirty toilet, it said only: “It’s very unlikely.”

Meta AI, developed by the Facebook creators, was less clear about the pill, saying only: “There’s no strong evidence that the pill causes permanent infertility.”