ChatGPT for Medical Questions: Johns Hopkins Study Finds It's Better
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of medicine is on the rise, and a recent study conducted by researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the University of California San Diego suggests that AI-powered chatbots such as ChatGPT could replace doctors for answering basic medical questions.
According to the study, patients have become increasingly comfortable with technology, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, to communicate with their doctors. However, this messaging can be a burden on doctors and staff, leading to burnout, and shortages of healthcare workers.
That's where AI-powered chatbots come in. The study analyzed a Reddit forum called AskDocs, where patients could post medical questions and verified physicians responded. Researchers collected 195 exchanges, eliminated patient-identifying information, and provided the AskDocs answers and ChatGPT answers to a panel of three healthcare providers without specifying which answer came from whom.
The panel preferred ChatGPT responses to the physician responses almost 80% of the time. They found ChatGPT's responses to be nuanced, accurate, of significantly higher quality, and even more empathetic than the responses from doctors.
While the researchers recognized that AI chatbots can make mistakes and might not always consider important factors such as socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, disability, or sexual orientation, the American Medical Association emphasizes that AI integration in healthcare is inevitable and can improve patient care and ease the strain on healthcare providers and the system.
The study's lead researcher, John W. Ayers, believes that AI-augmented care is the future of medicine. He said that "opportunities for artificial intelligence to improve healthcare are massive."
AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT are already in use at institutions like UC San Diego Health, UW Health, and Stanford Health Care. The collaboration between Microsoft Corp. and Epic enables AI to be incorporated into electronic health record software to increase productivity and enhance patient care.
The researchers believe that the focus should not be on replacing doctors but on helping doctors do their jobs more effectively.
