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Chatbots : Red tape cure ?
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Technology
Heather Saxena Chief reporter for Australian Doctor .
They can answer your patients ’ questions with empathy .
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The bot then suggested contacting a healthcare provider if the patient was experiencing discomfort .
“ It ’ s always a good idea to be cautious when consuming food and to remove any foreign objects before eating ,” it added .
Health professionals working in paediatrics , geriatrics , internal medicine , oncology , infectious diseases and preventive medicine were
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asked to assess the anonymised responses , with all of them preferring the bot , which was given four out of five for empathy compared with the doctor ’ s two out of five . And in terms of all 195 questions subject to the study , the same evaluators preferred the ChatGPT answers , which were voted the best in 79 % of 585 total evaluations . And artificial intelligence ( AI ) -generated responses were 10 |
times more likely to be rated as empathetic .
The authors said the findings supported further research into the use of AI to draft responses to electronic messages , potentially unlocking “ untapped productivity ” by freeing up doctors for more complex work and improving patient outcomes .
In an invited commentary , doctors from Stanford University said
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AI assistants could potentially also perform “ chart biopsies ” to provide a succinct summary from dense patient medical records .
“ We can hope that emerging AI systems may help tame laborious tasks that overwhelm modern medicine and empower physicians to return our focus to treating human patients .”
Only time will tell . JAMA Intern Med 2023 ; 28 Apr .
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IT remains much-hyped with claims that it will eventually wipe out a substantial chunk of the human workforce . But the artificial intelligence program ChatGPT does have potential upsides .
It could fix doctor burnout by drafting answers to questions posed by patients outside of consultations — at least according to researchers .
Since its release in November 2022 , ChatGPT has become a hot topic in medical circles . It has drafted abstracts for medical journal articles as well as applied its medical knowledge to take the medical exam for doctors to gain registration in the US ( it passed apparently ).
But University of California researchers say it can also draft answers to questions patients send to their doctor . The idea is that the doctor quickly reviews the draft answers before sending them back .
Importantly , the answers devised by ChatGPT are likely to be better than those the doctor can write — and imbued with a better bedside manner , they report in JAMA Internal Medicine .
For their study , they randomly selected 195 questions posted in Reddit ’ s r / AskDocs 480,000-member forum .
One question was about the risk of dying after ingesting a 2cm toothpick . The doctor wrote : “ If you ’ ve surpassed 2-6 hours , chances are [ it has ] passed into your intestines , which means it can ’ t be retrieved easily .
“ Many people can swallow razor blades and toothpicks without issue . In case you develop stomach ache , then don ’ t hesitate seeking out an emergency room , and remember to point out the swallowed toothpick .
“ For now , [ it ] won ’ t be doing much .”
ChatGPT ’ s response was a little more verbose : “ It ’ s natural to be concerned if you have ingested a foreign object , but in this case , it is highly unlikely that the toothpick you swallowed will cause you any serious harm .
“ Toothpicks are made of wood , which is not toxic and will not cause poisoning .
“ However , it is possible for a toothpick to cause injury if it becomes stuck in the throat or if it punctures the digestive tract .
“ However , this is unlikely to happen with a dull , cooked toothpick that is only 2cm long .”
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