How Good Is ChatGPT at Answering Tough Health Questions?
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies like ChatGPT someday may make a big difference for people seeking answers to questions such as “How can I stop smoking?” They may even offer resources to someone who was sexually assaulted.
But they’re not quite there yet, a new study reveals.
Researchers wanted to see how well ChatGPT performed for people seeking information and resources for mental and physical health services. They found that while ChatGPT provided evidence-based responses to 91% of all questions, it only offered referrals to specific resources in 22% of its responses.
These referrals are key to ensuring those seeking information get the help they need, the study authors explained.
“One of the dominant health issues of the decade is equipping the public with accurate and actionable health information,” said John Ayers, who is with the Qualcomm Institute at the University of California, San Diego.
“With Dr. ChatGPT replacing Dr. Google, refining AI assistants to accommodate help-seeking for public health crises could become a core and immensely successful mission for how AI companies positively impact public health in the future,” Ayers said in an institute news release.
