How Accurate is ChatGPT at Answering Medical Questions?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has seen widespread adoption across various sectors worldwide, including healthcare. Among these developments, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has emerged as a significant player in answering medical questions. This article will explore how it compares with human doctors and the technology underpinning its performance.

Accuracy: ChatGPT vs.?Doctors

A study published by the National Library of Medicine evaluated the accuracy of ChatGPT’s responses to medical questions. Physicians across 17 different specialties posed 284 medical questions to ChatGPT and graded the AI’s responses on a scale from 1 (completely incorrect) to 6 (completely correct). Impressively, ChatGPT received a median score of 5.5, equivalent to approximately 92% accuracy.

When it came to the difficulty of the questions, ChatGPT maintained high performance, even with more complex queries. This suggests that even when faced with complicated medical questions, ChatGPT can provide highly accurate responses, often matching the knowledge of practicing physicians.

ChatGPT’s accuracy was consistent across both binary (yes/no) and descriptive answers. The AI scored slightly lower on more intricate queries, but still demonstrated robust performance. The AI’s average accuracy score varied between 77% and 100%, depending on the question difficulty, signifying that while it has some limitations, it can provide a solid foundation of medical information.

Empathy: ChatGPT vs.?Doctors

You may not think of AI when considering empathy, but ChatGPT has made significant strides in this area as well. In a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the AI was pitted against physicians in responding to patient questions from a social media forum.

Each response was evaluated on the quality of information and the empathy demonstrated. The results showed that evaluators preferred ChatGPT’s responses to those of physicians in over 78% of the cases. Moreover, ChatGPT’s responses were rated as more empathetic, achieving a score representing almost ten times the prevalence of empathetic or very empathetic responses compared to physicians.

The Science Behind the Performance

ChatGPT, based on the GPT-4 architecture, is a language prediction model. It generates responses by calculating the probability of each subsequent word based on the ones that came before it. The model has been trained on a diverse range of internet text but does not know specifics about which documents were part of its training set. Furthermore, ChatGPT does not understand language in the same way humans do and does not have beliefs or desires.

Limitations and Ethical Considerations

While ChatGPT’s performance is impressive, it’s essential to understand its limitations. ChatGPT, as of the time of writing, is not designed to provide personalized medical advice and should not replace a doctor’s visit. Additionally, it may not always interpret complex or ambiguous medical queries correctly, leading to potential misunderstandings or inaccuracies.

Moreover, the integration of AI in healthcare raises ethical questions. As we allow AI to play a greater role in healthcare, we must consider potential discrimination risks, privacy concerns, and the potential for misinformation. Therefore, it’s crucial to develop ethical guidelines for AI use in healthcare to navigate these challenges.

Conclusion?

AI technology such as ChatGPT shows promising potential in the medical field. The high level of accuracy in responses and surprising empathy in communication suggest that AI can be a useful tool for both healthcare professionals and patients. However, while the capabilities are impressive, it’s important to remember that AI is not a replacement for human doctors. It serves as a powerful supplement to medical expertise, providing a readily accessible source of information and support. As we move forward into a digitally-enhanced future in healthcare, the blend of human and artificial intelligence could bring significant improvements in medical communication and patient care.