Jeff 1H AGO

I used a simple workflow to save several hundred dollars on veterinary bills while sitting in a veterinary urgent care clinic. This approach could also apply to many other purchases or services where I’m not an expert. I had already been chatting with ChatGPT about my pet’s symptoms and their likely causes. After I arrived at urgent care, I consulted the doctor about the likely diagnosis and the tests and treatment we should pursue. The clinic assistant then brought me a printed, itemized list of all the charges for the proposed plan. I resumed the ChatGPT conversation by dictating what the doctor had told me, photographing both pages of the charge list, and uploading them. I asked whether any charges were very likely unnecessary given the circumstances. ChatGPT identified four of the 24 charges and explained why they appeared to have very limited value. I crossed those four items off the list, handed it back to the assistant, and said, “I don’t think these are necessary at this point.” I could tell from the assistant’s facial expression that no one had done this before. When the doctor returned, I could tell I had caught her off guard. She agreed that two of the four tests likely offered no benefit and explained why we should keep the other two. At that point, I decided to trust the doctor more than the AI agent—perhaps partly to be polite, since I could tell her justification for keeping the tests was weak, although the cost wasn’t significant. Step-by-step: 1. I described my pet’s symptoms and their likely causes to ChatGPT before visiting the clinic. 2. I consulted the doctor about the likely diagnosis and the tests and treatment we should pursue. 3. I photographed the clinic’s two-page, itemized list of 24 charges and uploaded it to the existing ChatGPT conversation. 4. I dictated what the doctor had told me and asked ChatGPT whether any charges were very likely unnecessary in the circumstances. 5. I reviewed ChatGPT’s explanation of the four charges it identified as having very limited value. 6. I crossed those four items off the list and discussed them with the clinic assistant and doctor. 7. I kept two tests after the doctor explained why they should remain, while declining the other two. The process saved me $600.