Researchers gave 1,300 people a scenario, such as having a severe headache or being a new mother who felt constantly exhausted.<\/p>\n
They were split into two groups, with one using AI to help them figure out what they might have and decide what to do next.<\/p>\n
The researchers then evaluated whether people correctly identified what might be wrong, and if they should see a GP or go to A&E.<\/p>\n
They said the people who used AI often did not know what to ask, and were given a variety of different answers depending on how they worded their question.<\/p>\n
The chatbot responded with a mixture of information, and people found it hard to distinguish between what was useful and what was not.<\/p>\n
Dr Adam Mahdi, senior author on the study, told the BBC while AI was able to give medical information, people “struggle to get useful advice from it”.<\/p>\n
“People share information gradually”, he said. <\/p>\n
“They leave things out, they don’t mention everything. So, in our study, when the AI listed three possible conditions, people were left to guess which of those can fit. <\/p>\n
“This is exactly when things would fall apart.”<\/p>\n
Lead author Andrew Bean said the analysis illustrated how interacting with humans poses a challenge “even for top” AI models.<\/p>\n
“We hope this work will contribute to the development of safer and more useful AI systems,” he said.<\/p>\n
Dr Amber W. Childs, an associate professor of psychiatry in the Yale School of Medicine, said since chatbots are trained on current medical practices and data, they also face a further problem of repeating biases which have been “baked into medical practices for decades”.<\/p>\n
“A chatbot is only as good a diagnostician as seasoned clinicians are, which is not perfect either,” she said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Dr Bertalan Mesk\u00f3, editor of The Medical Futurist, which predicts tech trends in healthcare, said there were developments coming in the space.<\/p>\n