My complicated relationship with Chatbots

 

I attended an online talk this morning about how AI is going to transform health care.  

Oh good! 

I'm sure I'll hear more about how ChatBPT, and Claude and the rest of the consumer-facing LLM Apps can help patients access and use health information quickly.

At the start, the speakers even named my fav topic - Chatbots!

But instead, there was plenty of talking about - 

• Workflow management 
• Data governance
• Regulations on health data analytics  
• Process Improvement in implementing new technology 
• New organizational mindsets

Not one word about Chatbot - how readable and useable is the information for consumers.

Example, 

Yesterday I was reading about the new Covid vaccine and posed this question to ChatGPT and then Claude 

Chris to ChatGPT

"How do I know this new Covid vaccine will not create mutations in my own genes?"

(Below an excerpt of Chat's much longer response)  

It’s understandable to have concerns about vaccines and how they might affect your body. Here’s a simple explanation:COVID-19 vaccines, including the ones updated for new variants, do not change or interact with your own genes. Here’s how they work:

1. Vaccine Mechanism: Most COVID-19 vaccines (like the mRNA vaccines) teach your immune system how to recognize and fight the virus. They deliver a small piece of information (like the virus's spike protein) to your cells, which helps your body learn to respond if it encounters the actual virus.

2. No Gene Editing: The mRNA or other components in the vaccines do not enter your DNA. They don’t change your genetic material. After the vaccine does its job by teaching your immune system, the mRNA is broken down and eliminated by your body.

Then I asked Claude (Anthropic), got a very complicated response, and ask to have it simplified, (my highlighting of the analogy Claude used).

...

Full disclosure - I've been spending more time than I should be looking into how Chatbots might play a helpful role in communicating accurate, understandable information to the majority of the public who have difficulties reading and using health and science information.  

What I've found

• They use medical/scientific/complex words but  do not consistently anticipate that they need to be explained, repeated and reinforced. 
• Sentence structures are often complex without support.

When pressed to simplify they: 

• use list-like chunks of sentences – no cohesion
• resort to analogies – usually not appropriate for adults.  

Chatbots have some evolving to do. 

ChatGPT Let Me Down This Morning

( Chatting with Chat today 5-20-24)

I'm sure you've had mornings like this.  I woke up thinking about long covid and interleukins. 

So I had coffee with my ChatGPT app. 

#1 request to ChatGPT:

In the context of long Covid, what role does interleukin play?

In the context of Long Covid, interleukins may play a role in the persistent symptoms experienced by some individuals after recovering from the initial COVID-19 infection. Studies have shown that in some cases, Long Covid symptoms may be linked to ongoing inflammation and dysregulation of the immune system, which can be influenced by interleukins.

Specifically, interleukins such as IL-6 and IL-10 have been found to be elevated in some Long Covid patients, indicating ongoing immune activation and inflammation. This chronic inflammation may contribute to symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, and muscle pain that persist long after the initial infection has cleared.

Understanding the role of interleukins in Long Covid may help researchers develop targeted treatments to alleviate symptoms and improve the quality of life for individuals experiencing long-term effects of COVID-19.

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OK.  It's what I'd expect.  A text peppered with high level medical and science concepts: persistent symptoms,  IL-6   IL-10,  chronic inflammation, dysregulation,  targeted treatment. 

And an abundance of compound, complex sentences - embedded phrases and clauses. 

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2nd request to ChatGPT

Rewrite this in simple sentences

In Long Covid, interleukins are proteins that may cause ongoing inflammation and immune system issues after a person has recovered from COVID-19. Some Long Covid patients have higher levels of interleukins like IL-6 and IL-10, which can lead to symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, and muscle pain that last a long time. Researchers are studying how interleukins are involved in Long Covid to find ways to help people feel better and improve their quality of life.

---

Well, 3 paragraphs trimmed down to one.  But these are not simple sentences.  ChatGPT still enamored of those phrases and clauses that look nothing like simple sentences. 

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3rd request 

Explain this to low-health literate readers

In the context of Long Covid, interleukins are like messengers in your body that can sometimes cause ongoing inflammation and immune system problems after you've recovered from COVID-19. This can lead to symptoms like feeling tired all the time, trouble thinking clearly, and muscle pain that last long after you've gotten over the initial infection.

Researchers are studying how these interleukins might be linked to these lingering symptoms in Long Covid, so that they can find ways to help people feel better and improve their quality of life. By understanding how interleukins are involved, they hope to develop treatments that can target these specific problems and make a difference for those struggling with Long Covid.

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Oh dear......I feel a migraine coming on.

Defaulting to a cartoon character (messengers) as analogies can't work for the reader if all the surrounding words/concepts are high-barrier. 

 If you're an AI guru reading this - what does ChatGPT need to learn to be more useful to all the millions of readers who have questions, and could really benefit from information they can understand and use...at their fingertips.  

And, not to sound like a broken record, but WHAT'S WITH ALL THE COMPLEX SYNTAX.