Chat GPT as a Doctor

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE APPROACHES SUCH AS CHATGPT promise to provide medical information and guidance to clinicians and patients. But does Chat GPT have a better bedside manner than your doctor? And what about knowledge? Today we look at the value of Chat GPT as a doctor.

Today we explore the results of healthcare professionals assessing artificial intelligence (AI) responses to approximately 200 questions posed to a public online forum. The queries included patient inquiries about medical diagnoses and the need for medical attention.

“AI is more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design or production maintenance or bad car production, in the sense that it is, it has the potential — however small one may regard that probability, but it is non-trivial — it has the potential of civilization destruction.” — Elon Musk.

How is AI used in medicine?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being increasingly utilized in various areas of medicine to improve patient care, diagnosis, treatment planning, research, and more. Here are some common applications of AI in medicine:

1. Medical Imaging. AI algorithms can analyze medical images such as X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, and mammograms to aid in detecting and diagnosing diseases. AI systems can identify patterns and anomalies that may be difficult for human radiologists to spot, leading to more accurate and timely diagnoses.
2. Disease Diagnosis. AI can assist in diagnosing diseases by analyzing patient data, including symptoms, medical history, lab results, and imaging. AI algorithms can compare this data with vast amounts of medical knowledge to provide clinicians with potential diagnoses or help narrow down possibilities.
3. Personalized Treatment Planning. AI algorithms can analyze large amounts of patient data to develop personalized treatment plans. AI can suggest optimal treatment options, dosage recommendations, and potential side effects by considering individual patient characteristics, including genetic information, medical history, and response to previous treatments.
4. Drug Discovery and Development. AI is used to accelerate the drug discovery and development process. It can analyze vast amounts of biomedical data, including scientific literature, chemical properties, and clinical trial results, to identify potential drug candidates, predict their efficacy, and optimize their molecular structures.
5. Virtual Assistants and Chatbots. AI-powered virtual assistants and chatbots can provide personalized and automated responses to patient inquiries. They can help with appointment scheduling, provide basic medical advice, triage patients, and offer general health information.
6. Remote Monitoring and Predictive Analytics. AI can enable remote patient monitoring by analyzing data from wearable devices, sensors, and electronic health records. It can detect patterns and trends, allowing for early identification of deteriorating health conditions, prediction of disease progression, and timely intervention.
7. Robot-Assisted Surgery. AI plays a role in robot-assisted surgeries, where robotic systems assist surgeons in performing precise and minimally invasive procedures. AI algorithms enhance surgical precision, provide real-time feedback, and enable better visualization for surgeons.
8. Health Data Analysis. AI can analyze large volumes of health data to identify patterns, risk factors, and treatment outcomes. This information can aid in population health management, epidemiological studies, and public health planning.

It’s important to note that while AI can revolutionize medicine, we should use it with human expertise and clinical judgment.

Chat GPT and bedside manner: Paging AI.

Research published this week suggests that physicians can take some lessons from the chatbot regarding patient communication. 

As noted above, a panel of healthcare professionals evaluated artificial intelligence (AI) responses to roughly 200 medical questions from a public online forum. Here are the results:

Responses from the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT were “preferred over physician responses and rated significantly higher for both quality and empathy.”

Evaluators considered more than one in four physician responses less than acceptable in quality. This number is much greater than the less than three percent of answers from ChatGPT. Moreover, nearly half (45 percent) of responses from ChatGPT were considered empathetic, compared with less than five percent of those from physicians.

For example, a patient asked ChatGPT about the risk of going blind after a splash of bleach in the eye. The artificial intelligence began by apologizing for the scare. AI then provided seven sentences of advice and encouragement about the “unlikely” result of blindness. 

One physician responded, “sounds like you will be fine,” followed by the phone number for Poison Control. All of the clinicians analyzing the responses preferred ChatGPT’s response.

The ChatGPT responses appeared longer than those from doctors. This variability might affect perceptions of empathy and quality. Still, the patient responses remind me to be comprehensive and thoughtful when I consult with patients. We can learn from artificial intelligence.

The promise of AI is great, but we must be vigilant that it operates within the guardrails of truth and isn’t prone to cultural, racial, ethnic, sex, and other biases.

Key points — Chat GPT and Bedside Manner

Question. Does Chat GPT Have a Better Bedside Manner Than Your Doctor?

Findings. Chat GPT artificial intelligence (AI) was rated as more empathetic and of higher quality than doctors when responding to patient questions.

Meaning. Artificial intelligence is coming to healthcare. We need to ensure appropriate guardrails are in place for truth and bias.

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The information I provided in this blog is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider for medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information in this blog.

Thank you for reading “Chat GPT as a Doctor.”