Study warns patients not to rely on AI chatbots for drug information

Artificial Intelligence AI powered search engines and chatbots may not always provide accurate and safe information on drugs and patients shouldnrsquot rely on these warned a study on FridayResearchers from Belgium and Germany conducted the study after finding many answers were wrong or potentially harmfulIn the paper published in the journal BMJ Quality and Safety they said that the complexity of the answers provided by the AI chatbot may be difficult to understand and might require degreelevel educationWith the introduction of AIpowered chatbots search engines in 2023 underwent a significant shift thanks The renewed versions offered enhanced search results comprehensive answers and a new type of interactive experienceWhile the chatbots trained on extensive datasets from the entire internet can answer any healthcarerelated queries they are also capable of generating disinformation and nonsensical or harmful content said the team from the FriedrichAlexanderUniversitat ErlangenNurnberg in GermanyldquoIn this crosssectional study we observed that search engines with an AIpowered chatbot produced overall complete and accurate answers to patient questionsrdquo they writeldquoHowever chatbot answers were largely difficult to read and answers repeatedly lacked information or showed inaccuracies possibly threatening patient and medication safetyrdquo they addFor the study the researchers explored the readability completeness and accuracy of chatbot answers for queries on the top 50 most frequently prescribed drugs in the US in 2020 They used Bing copilot a search engine with AIpowered chatbot featuresJust half of the 10 questions were answered with the highest completeness Further chatbot statements didnrsquot match the reference data in 26 per cent of answers and were fully inconsistent in over 3 per cent of casesAbout 42 per cent of these chatbot answers were considered to lead to moderate or mild harm and 22 per cent to death or severe harmThe team noted that a major drawback was the chatbotrsquos inability to understand the underlying intent of a patient questionldquoDespite their potential it is still crucial for patients to consult their healthcare professionals as chatbots may not always generate errorfree informationrdquo the researchers saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever