Stage 4: tested with real people.
The rule that placed itA randomized trial or field study has tested it with real people doing the task.
The evidenceIn an MIT Media Lab study, people randomly assigned to write essays with ChatGPT showed the weakest brain connectivity and underperformed over four months. It is a preprint, not yet peer-reviewed. Kosmyna et al., MIT Media Lab, arXiv 2506.08872, Jun 10, 2025.
A stage says how far the evidence has got. It is not a rating of the AI and not advice.
- 1ClaimedNo evidence yet
- 2LaunchedNo evidence yet
- 3Independently testedEvidence found
- 4Tested with real peoplePlaced here
- 5Regulator-clearedNo approval process exists
- 6Widely used with a verified recordNo evidence yet
Everything we found.
In ladder order, newest first within each kind. Makers' own claims are labeled as theirs.
What independent tests found
- University of Reading (PLOS ONE)
In a blind test of real university psychology exams, ChatGPT-written answers went unnoticed by markers 94% of the time and on average got higher grades than real students.
“went undetected in 94% of cases and, on average, attained higher grades than real student submissions.”
University of Reading · Jun 26, 2024
Tested with real people
- Randomized trial, 54 participants (18 in a fourth session)
In an MIT Media Lab study, people randomly assigned to write essays with ChatGPT showed the weakest brain connectivity and underperformed over four months. It is a preprint, not yet peer-reviewed.
“Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.”
Kosmyna et al., MIT Media Lab, arXiv 2506.08872 · Jun 10, 2025
Not found in our sources yet: what the makers claim; what has launched; how many people use it. No regulator approves AI for this task, so the approval step doesn't apply.
Track record and tools.
Failures and court cases are shown beside the stage, never folded into it. Tools are listed because the evidence names them, in no order of merit.
- ChatGPT
Can AI do these yet?
Answer my health questions
Stage 4 of 6Tested with real people
Randomized trial: chatbot users made no better health decisions
Spot breast cancer on a mammogram
Stage 5 of 6Regulator-cleared
Transpara has been FDA-cleared since 2018, most recently in Aug 2026
Check a mole for skin cancer
Stage 5 of 6Regulator-cleared
EU Class III CE mark lets DERM clear benign cases alone (company)