Google and ChatGPT have mixed results in medical informatiom queries
When you need accurate information about a serious illness, should you go to Google or ChatGPT?
An interdisciplinary study led by University of California, Riverside, computer scientists found that both internet information gathering services have strengths and weaknesses for people seeking information about Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. The team included clinical scientists from the University of Alabama and Florida International University.
Google provides the most current information, but query results are skewed by service and product providers seeking customers, the researchers found. ChatGPT, meanwhile, provides more objective information, but it can be outdated and lacks the sources of its information in its narrative responses.
“If you pick the best features of both, you can build a better system, and I think that this is what will happen in the next couple of years,” said Vagelis Hristidis, a professor of computer science and engineering in UCR’s Bourns College of Engineering.
In their study, Hristidis and his co-authors submitted 60 queries to both Google and ChatGPT that would be typical submissions from people living with dementia and their families.
The researchers focused on dementia because more than 6 million Americans are impacted by Alzheimer’s disease or a related condition, said study co-author Nicole Ruggiano, a professor of social work at the University of Alabama.
“Research also shows that caregivers of people living with dementia are among the most engaged stakeholders in pursuing health information, since they often are tasked with making decisions for their loved one’s care,” Ruggiano said. More