Editorial Commentary: ChatGPT Has the Potential to Be an Important Patient Education Tool and May Outperform Google.

Abstract

With the growing popularity of artificial intelligence, more patients will begin to turn to chatbots such as ChatGPT for medical information. Recent research has shown that ChatGPT and Google can both provide accurate responses to numeric-based questions; ChatGPT bases its answers on more trustworthy, academic sources than Google, and the 2 tools have little overlap when queried to generate a list of frequently asked questions. Patients should use ChatGPT cautiously. The chatbot can struggle to generate appropriate responses to questions regarding patient-specific factors. Fortunately, many institutions offer evidence-based websites that provide quality information. However, if these sites do not address a specific patient's question, ChatGPT has the potential to be a powerful tool. Of importance, unlike Google, ChatGPT consistently provides patients with a reminder that they should follow up with a licensed medical provider to address their questions and concerns related to a topic.