UM School of Medicine Study Finds ChatGPT Helpful for Breast Cancer Screening Advice, With Certain Caveats

As more consumers turn to the newly available ChatGPT for health advice, researchers are eager to see whether the information provided by the artificial intelligence chatbot is reliable and accurate. A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) indicates that the answers generated provide correct information the vast majority of the time; sometimes, though, the information is inaccurate or even fictitious.

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In February 2023, UMSOM researchers created a set of 25 questions related to advice on getting screened for breast cancer. They submitted each question to ChatGPT three times to see what responses were generated. (The chatbot is known for varying its response each time a question is posed.) Three radiologists fellowship-trained in mammography evaluated the responses; they found that the responses were appropriate for 22 out of the 25 questions. The chatbot did, however, provide one answer based on outdated information. Two other questions had inconsistent responses that varied significantly each time the same question was posed.

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“We found ChatGPT answered questions correctly about 88 percent of the time, which is pretty amazing,” said study corresponding author Paul Yi , MD, Assistant Professor of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at UMSOM and Director of the UM Medical Intelligent Imaging Center (UM2ii). “It also has the added benefit of summarizing information into an easily digestible form for consumers to easily understand.” ChatGPT correctly answered questions about the symptoms of breast cancer, who is at risk, and questions on the cost, age, and frequency recommendations concerning mammograms.

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