The sudden and shocking appearance of ChatGPT (OpenAI)—able to write scientific articles, pass medical licensing examinations, fetch CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) codes, and develop differential diagnoses (1, 2)—raises immediate questions about how health systems will use conversational artificial intelligence, or chatbots, in patient-facing contexts. ChatGPT may catalyze expansion of this technology’s uses in patient communication. Chatbots are already using other natural language processing methods to check COVID-19 symptoms, manage chronic diseases, support mental health treatment, and deliver genetic test results (3).
Chatbots promise to support medical education, research, and practice but not without peril. They raise ethical issues around safety, ...
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Author, Article, and Disclosure Information
Marlee Akerson,
Center for Bioethics and Humanities, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado (M.Akerson)
UCHealth, Denver, Colorado (M.Andazola)
Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado (A.M.)
Center for Bioethics and Humanities and Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado (M.D.).
Grant Support: By a Making a Difference Grant from the Greenwall Foundation (“The Chatbot is In: Ethics and Conversational AI in Health Care”).
Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M23-0877.
Corresponding Author: Matthew DeCamp, MD, PhD, Center for Bioethics and Humanities and Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Mail Stop B137, 13080 East 19th Avenue, Aurora, CO 80045; e-mail, matthew.
Author Contributions: Conception and design: M. Akerson, M. DeCamp, A. Moore.
Analysis and interpretation of the data: M. Akerson, M. DeCamp, A. Moore.
Drafting of the article: M. Akerson, M. Andazola, M. DeCamp.
Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: M. DeCamp, A. Moore.
Final approval of the article: M. Akerson, M. Andazola, M. DeCamp, A. Moore.
Provision of study materials or patients: M. Akerson.
Obtaining of funding: M. DeCamp, A. Moore.
Administrative, technical, or logistic support: M. Akerson, M. Andazola, M. DeCamp, A. Moore.
Collection and assembly of data: M. Akerson.
This article was published at Annals.org on 6 June 2023.
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