Chat GPT? More like Chat MD!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Seeing patients, analyzing test results, writing reports – doctors are busy! Could artificial intelligence websites like Chat GPT help lighten the load?
Enter John Ayers from the University of San Diego and team.
To find out, researchers looked to the social media site, Reddit. There, users write posts on subreddits – pages dedicated to specific topics. On the “Ask-Docs” subreddit, verified healthcare professionals answer medical questions. Researchers had Chat GPT answer almost two hundred questions from Ask-Docs. Then, three doctors blindly chose their preferred response. The one posted by a doctor on Reddit, or the one from Chat GPT.
The professionals preferred the AI-generated response SEVENTY-NINE percent of the time! They even found that responses from Chat GPT were better and more empathetic.
A-I cannot replace doctors for medical advice. But, the technology could help reduce their workloads and burnout. Patients would also get faster, friendlier responses – a win-win!
Best of all: no paper gown. I hate those.
Reference:
Ayers, J. W., Poliak, A., Dredze, M., Leas, E. C., Zhu, Z., Kelley, J. B., Faix, D. J., Goodman, A. M., Longhurst, C. A., Hogarth, M., & Smith, D. M. (2023). Comparing Physician and Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Responses to Patient Questions Posted to a Public Social Media Forum. JAMA Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.1838