Editorial Commentary: The Scope of Medical Research Concerning ChatGPT Remains Limited by Lack of Originality.

Abstract

There is no shortage of literature surrounding ChatGPT and whether this large language model can provide accurate and clinically relevant information in response to simulated patient queries. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of literature addressing important considerations beyond these experimental and entertaining uses. Indeed, a trend for redundancy has emerged where most of the literature has applied ChatGPT to the same tasks while simply swapping the subject matter, resulting in a failure to expand the impact and reach of this potentially transformational artificial intelligence (AI) solution. Instead, research addressing pressing health care challenges and a renewed focus on novel use cases will allow for more meaningful research initiatives, product development, and tangible changes at both the system and point-of-care levels. Current target areas of interest in medicine that remain obstacles to patient care include prior authorization, administrative burden, documentation generation, medical triage and diagnosis, and patient communication efficiency. To advance this area of research toward such meaningful applications, a structured framework is necessary. Such frameworks should include problem identification; definition of key performance indicators; multidisciplinary and multi-institutional collaboration of those with domain expertise, including AI engineers and information technology specialists; policy and strategy development driven by executive-level personnel; institutional financial support and investment from key stakeholders for AI infrastructure and maintenance; and critical assessment of AI performance, bias, and equity.