Experts warn against taking AI medical advice

According to a VNA reporter in Ottawa, a new study shows that artificial intelligence (AI) can provide convincing medical advice, but medical experts are concerned that patients' excessive trust in AI will cause them to miss important opportunities to discuss their medical conditions with doctors, not to mention the consequences of AI possibly giving inaccurate diagnoses.

The research – conducted by scientists at the University of British Columbia (UBC) – has revealed the surprising result that large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT not only provide information, but also communicate more convincingly and pleasantly than real people.

Dr. Vered Shwartz, an associate professor of computer science at UBC, said that conversations with AI sometimes feel more convincing and empathetic than conversations with real doctors in person. AI chatbots now have human-like intonation and present themselves with confidence, making people more likely to be persuaded.

According to the study, more and more patients are coming to clinics with pre-formed decisions, often based on diagnoses or treatment plans suggested by AI tools.

Dr. Cassandra Stiller-Moldovan, a family physician in Colwood, British Colombia, Canada, said that often the advice from AI chatbots is correct but does not fully reflect the problem, so doctors have to spend a lot of time explaining and convincing patients.

The problem is further exacerbated by another study from the University of Waterloo (also in Canada) that found that when diagnosing health problems, AI chatbots like ChatGPT version 4 gave more false information than correct information.

Specifically, when researchers asked a series of open-ended questions, only 31% of ChatGPT's answers were judged to be completely correct.

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) says the growing reliance on AI is understandable given that many Canadians lack access to family doctors and face long waits for appointments.

While waiting impatiently, many people have turned to AI tools to find answers as an alternative solution./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/chuyen-gia-khuyen-cao-can-trong-voi-loi-khuyen-y-te-cua-ai-post1069996.vnp