Medications: Experts warn as Chatbots assumes role of medical doctors

 

Admin I Monday, October 14, 2024

 

BERLIN – Many people search the internet for information about medicines. But researchers warn against trusting chatbots – and call for clear instructions.

According to a study, AI-supported search engines and chatbots do not provide reliable information on medications. The answers were repeatedly inaccurate and incomplete and often difficult to understand, the researchers write in the journal ‘BMJ Quality & Safety’. They therefore advise caution and call for warnings for users.

‘A key finding of our study is that the quality of chatbot responses is not yet sufficient for safe use by users,’ explained lead author Wahram Andrikyan from the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Erlangen.

‘A clear indication that the information provided by the chatbot cannot replace professional advice is therefore essential in our opinion.’

Inaccuracies are not recognisable to laypeople

The starting point for the study was the experience that patients use the internet to find out about prescribed medication. In April 2023, the researchers therefore asked the AI-supported chatbot from the Microsoft search engine Bing ten common questions about the 50 most frequently prescribed medications in the USA, including questions about how to take them, side effects and contraindications.

In general, the chatbot answered the questions with a high degree of completeness and accuracy, said Andrikyan. However, this was not the case for some questions.

‘This harbours a risk for patients, as they, as medical laypersons, cannot assess the accuracy and completeness of the AI-generated answers themselves,’ said Andrikyan.

The expert emphasised that there has been rapid progress in AI-supported search engines with an integrated chatbot function since last year’s study. However, the improvements are not sufficient and the risks to patient safety remain for the time being.

However, as chatbots are trained with different data sets, he believes it makes sense to analyse the safety and quality of other technical systems as well.