A recent survey indicates that an increasing number of general practitioners are beginning to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as GPT, to assist with their daily work. According to the survey published in the journal BMJ Health & Care Informatics, 1006 general practitioners participated in the questionnaire. The results showed that about one-fifth of the doctors indicated they had used AI chatbots in clinical practice, including ChatGPT, Bing AI, and Google's Gemini, among others.
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Among the doctors using AI, nearly one-third (29%) said they used these tools to generate documentation after patient visits, 28% used AI tools to suggest different diagnoses, and 25% used them to provide treatment plans for patients. Researchers noted that these results indicate that general practitioners could potentially benefit from these tools in administrative tasks and supporting clinical reasoning.
However, the survey also raised concerns about patient privacy. Researchers mentioned that it is currently unclear how internet companies handle the information collected by AI generation. Although these chatbots are increasingly subject to regulatory efforts, it remains unclear how legislation will integrate with these tools in practice.
Dr. Ellie Main, a medical legal advisor for the Medical Defense Union, said that the use of AI by general practitioners could raise issues, including inaccuracies and patient confidentiality. She mentioned, "It is natural for medical professionals to want to find smarter ways of working under pressure. In addition to the uses mentioned in the BMJ article, we have found that some doctors are also turning to AI programs to help draft complaint responses."
She warned that responses drafted using AI might appear credible but could contain errors, or even cite incorrect guidelines, which might not be noticeable in the smooth text. Therefore, she emphasized that doctors must adhere to ethical standards and comply with relevant guidelines and regulations when using AI.
Key Points:
1️⃣ About 20% of general practitioners are using AI tools in their daily work, such as ChatGPT.
2️⃣ 29% of users leverage AI to generate patient documentation, and 28% use it to suggest different diagnoses.
3️⃣ The use of AI involves patient privacy issues, and doctors need to be mindful of relevant regulations and data protection.