ChatGPT Health: Risk or innovation?

Launched earlier this month, the controversial ChatGPT Health claims to help patients ‘take a more active role in understanding and managing their health and wellness’.
 
Patients can now upload their medical records to be analysed by artificial intelligence (AI), with ChatGPT Health using the data to ‘understand recent test results, prepare for appointments with your doctor, get advice on how to approach your diet and workout routine’.
 
According to developer OpenAI, more than 230 million people were already asking health and wellness questions on ChatGPT every week, prompting its health extension.
 
But it’s a progression of AI technology which is dividing GPs.
 
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright sees ChatGPT Health as an extension of patients turning to ‘Dr Google’.
 
He warns though that GPs still need to ‘definitely reinforce to our patients’ that these tools can provide some information, but it might not be relevant, and could sometimes be ‘alarming’.
 
‘GPs can be prepared for patients to come in, but it would be helpful for us to understand how these tools work,’ Dr Wright told newsGP.
 
‘We might even be able to prompt a result which is more useful or more relevant for a patient, and in that way, this will be yet another tool that assists us in our work.
 
‘But more importantly, sharing information for patients to help them understand their health conditions.’
 
He said that with the development of more AI specialising in providing health information, education and collaboration are key.
 
‘There’s great potential here for us to use this additional information,’ Dr Wright said.
 
‘ChatGPT Health will have many of the same limitations as standard ChatGPT, in terms of providing convincing information, which will need to be carefully looked at to make sure it’s appropriate for any given patient.
 
‘There’s an opportunity though for us to work with our patients and potentially use it as a tool in our consultations, to try and provide people with easy access to up-to-date information.’
 
ChatGPT Health claims to be ‘designed in close collaboration with physicians’, with a goal to provide patients to ‘take a more active role in understanding and managing their health and wellness while supporting, not replacing, care from clinicians’.
 
The company has also bolstered its security, saying it adheres to the ‘highest industry standards in data security and privacy’.
 
However, RACGP Expert Committee – Practice Technology and Management member Dr David Adam is hesitant to support the AI health platform and flags concerns.
 
‘My view is that you cannot take the people behind ChatGPT at their word,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘They see human connection as a flaw in our society that needs to be replaced.
 
‘They are spending phenomenal amounts of money with the intent to replace interpersonal communication with a simulacrum.’
 
The RACGP recognises that AI has ‘great potential’ in general practice, but risks need to be mitigated as these technologies advance, with safe and quality care remaining a priority.
 
The college’s position statement calls for GPs to be supported and involved in the development and integration of AI-based solutions in primary care, to ensure solutions are fit-for-purpose and appropriately regulated.
 
ChatGPT Health says it generates responses ‘informed by your health information and context’ and is designed to ‘support, not replace, medical care’ and not intended for diagnosis or treatment.
 
Instead, it helps patients to ‘navigate everyday questions and understand patterns over time’, to help them be ‘informed and prepared for important medical conversations’.
 
Dr Adam says GPs should expect to have more far-reaching conversations with patients about the service.
 
‘I encourage GPs to be prepared for patients to arrive everywhere from well-informed about their problems to confused by obsequious language that has no grounding in reality,’ he said.
 
Dr Wright added that with AI tools here to stay, GPs can educate themselves as well as their patients.
 
‘We really are seeing AI developing and a greater specialisation into health,’ he said.
 
‘These AI tools are something that we need to work with to improve our patients’ understanding of their conditions.
 
‘They’re not here to replace us.’
 
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AI artificial intelligence ChatGPT Health digital health GP–patient relationship