Cobra bite survival exposes risks of blind trust in AI tools

TACLOBAN CITY — As society grows increasingly dependent on technology, with artificial intelligence now shaping decisions big and small, experts are warning that blind reliance on AI-generated information can carry serious risks.

That lesson came into sharp focus in Southern Leyte after a university official helped save the life of a utility worker bitten by a highly venomous cobra—despite early misidentifications by AI tools.

Leo Omamalin, director for University Planning and Development at Southern Leyte State University in Sogod, recounted the incident in a social media post after one of the school’s utility workers was bitten while clearing a grassy area on campus.

Despite wearing boots and thick maong pants, the cobra’s fangs pierced through and struck the worker’s thigh. The snake’s fangs reportedly became entangled in the pants, allowing the worker to grab the snake’s head and choke it with his bare hands.

The worker initially refused hospital treatment, believing—based on traditional beliefs—that seeking medical care could hasten death. By custom, snakebite victims are often brought to an albularyo, where saliva is applied to the wound and the patient is made to chew Cobra Vine (Ipomoea nil) seeds as a folk remedy.

Omamalin said they initially consulted Google Lens to identify the snake, which labeled it as a grass snake (Natrix natrix), a non-venomous species. They also consulted ChatGPT, which identified it as a Philippine keelback snake (Tropidonophis dendrophiops), likewise non-venomous.

Concerned, Omamalin sought help from the Philippine Snakes ID group, where multiple experts confirmed the snake was a cobra.

“This confirmation significantly influenced our urgent decision to transport the victim immediately to Tacloban for anti-venom treatment,” Omamalin said.

While the victim was first brought to the Sogod District Hospital, medical personnel requested photos of the snake, which were forwarded to Eastern Visayas Medical Center (EVMC) for advance identification.

During the two-and-a-half-hour trip to Tacloban, further confirmation was received that the snake was indeed a cobra. At the EVMC emergency room, the attending physician immediately confirmed the identification upon seeing the photo.

After undergoing tests, the patient was given anti-tetanus shots, dextrose, and later injected with Purified Cobra Anti-Venom (PCAV)—which, Omamalin noted, is available only at EVMC in the entire Eastern Visayas region.

“This life-threatening incident taught us invaluable lessons in handling snake bite cases. One key lesson is that we should not fully rely on AI tools or self-medication,” Omamalin said.

The World Health Organization has repeatedly stressed that anti-venom is the only effective treatment for snake venom.

Omamalin said the incident also underscores the need for the Department of Health to expand access to anti-venom facilities, particularly in provinces far from regional hospitals.

“Anti-venom facilities are costly due to production, storage, and manpower requirements, but no cost-benefit analysis can ever outweigh the value of a human life—especially that of the poor and vulnerable,” he said.

While the DOH has no comprehensive national data on snakebite cases, studies estimate around 13,000 incidents annually in the Philippines, resulting in approximately 550 deaths each year.