Dentist vs. chatbot answers to patient questions
Integrating large language model chatbots into dental practices may help improve patient communication, according to a study published in JADA Foundational Science.
Researchers compared the quality and empathy of ChatGPT-generated responses with dentists’ responses to 20 patient questions. The questions and dentists’ responses were pulled from Reddit’s dental advice community.
Nine dentists rated the quality and empathy of each of the responses. They were not aware of which responses came from dentists and which came from ChatGPT. Overall, the ChatGPT responses received higher ratings.
“Although subjective variations in assessing quality and empathy may exist, this study suggests that [large language model] chatbot responses show higher quality and empathy than online dentist responses,” the authors said in the study. “The use of [large language model] chatbots by dentists can enhance patient communication in dental practice owing to their efficiency, empathy, and quality. Further research is needed to determine the full potential of artificial intelligence in dentistry.”
Read more: JADA Foundational Science
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