Study Reveals Struggles in Obtaining Effective Health Advice from Chatbots
With increasing waiting times and rising costs in strained healthcare systems, many individuals are turning to AI-driven chatbots like ChatGPT for medical self-diagnosis. A recent survey found that approximately one in six American adults use chatbots for health advice at least once a month. However, reliance on chatbots for health information can pose risks, especially because users often find it difficult to provide the necessary details for effective recommendations, according to a new study led by Oxford researchers.
The study highlighted a significant communication gap between users and chatbots. Adam Mahdi, director of graduate studies at the Oxford Internet Institute and co-author of the study, mentioned that participants utilizing chatbots did not outperform those who relied on traditional means of health information, such as online searches or personal judgment.
For this research, around 1,300 participants in the U.K. were presented with medical scenarios created by a panel of doctors. They were tasked with identifying potential health issues and determining appropriate actions, whether it meant seeing a doctor or heading to the hospital. Various AI models were tested, including the default GPT-4o model powering ChatGPT, as well as Cohere’s Command R+ and Meta’s Llama 3.
The findings indicated that using chatbots not only decreased participants’ ability to recognize relevant health conditions but also led to a tendency to underestimate the severity of identified issues. Mahdi noted that users often omitted crucial details in their queries or received responses that were challenging to interpret, which frequently comprised a mix of good and poor recommendations.
The growing interest in AI solutions for health is reflected in ongoing initiatives by big tech firms. Apple is reportedly working on an AI tool for fitness and dietary advice, while Amazon is examining AI applications for analyzing medical databases. Microsoft is currently developing AI to assist in prioritizing patient messages for healthcare providers.
Despite these advancements, opinions vary among professionals and patients about the suitability of AI for managing high-risk health applications. The American Medical Association has advised against the use of chatbots like ChatGPT for clinical decision-making, and companies including OpenAI caution against using chatbots for diagnostic purposes.
In light of the study’s outcomes, Mahdi advocates for a cautious approach: “We recommend relying on trusted sources of information for healthcare decisions. Current evaluation methods for chatbots do not capture the complexities inherent in user interaction, and like clinical trials for new medications, these systems ought to be rigorously tested in real-world settings before deployment.”
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