Beyond ChatGPT: What does GPT-4 add to healthcare? The dawn of a new era

Cardiol J. 2023;30(6):1018-1025. doi: 10.5603/cj.97515. Epub 2023 Oct 13.

Abstract

Over the past few years, artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly improved healthcare. Once the stuff of science fiction, AI is now widely used, even in our daily lives - often without us thinking about it. All healthcare professionals - especially executives and medical doctors - need to understand the capabilities of advanced AI tools and other breakthrough innovations. This understanding will allow them to recognize opportunities and threats emerging technologies can bring to their organizations. We hope to contribute to a meaningful public discussion about the role of this new type of AI and how our approach to healthcare and medicine can best evolve with the rapid development of this technology. Since medicine learns by example, only a few possible uses of AI in medicine are provided, which merely outline the system's capabilities. Among the examples, it is worth highlighting the roles of AI in medical notes, education, preventive programs, consultation, triage and intervention. It is believed by the authors that large language models such as chat generative pre-trained transformer (ChatGPT) are reaching a level of maturity that will soon impact clinical medicine as a whole and improve the delivery of individualized, compassionate, and scalable healthcare. It is unlikely that AI will replace physicians in the near future. The human aspects of care, including empathy, compassion, critical thinking, and complex decision-making, are invaluable in providing holistic patient care beyond diagnosis and treatment decisions. The GPT-4 has many limitations and cannot replace direct contact between an experienced physician and a patient for even the most seemingly simple consultations, not to mention the ethical and legal aspects of responsibility for diagnosis.

Keywords: AI in medicine; ChatGPT; artificial intelligence; health IT; innovations.

MeSH terms

  • Artificial Intelligence*
  • Delivery of Health Care*
  • Educational Status
  • Humans