Despite the drawbacks of turning to artificial intelligence in medicine, some physicians find that ChatGPT improves their ability to communicate empathetically with patients....There's a reason doctors may neglect compassion, said Dr. Douglas White, the director of the program on ethics and decision making in critical illness at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "Most doctors are pretty cognitively focused, treating the patient's medical issues as a series of problems to be solved," Dr. White said. As a result, he said, they may fail to pay attention to "the emotional side of what patients and families are experiencing."
At other times, doctors are all too aware of the need for empathy, But the right words can be hard to come by. That is what happened to Dr. Gregory Moore, who until recently was a senior executive leading health and life sciences at Microsoft, wanted to help a friend who had advanced cancer. Her situation was dire, and she needed advice about her treatment and future. He decided to pose her questions to ChatGPT.
The result "blew me away," Dr. Moore said.
In long, compassionately worded answers to Dr. Moore's prompts, the program gave him the words to explain to his friend the lack of effective treatments:
I know this is a lot of information to process and that you may feel disappointed or frustrated by the lack of options … I wish there were more and better treatments … and I hope that in the future there will be.
It also suggested ways to break bad news when his friend asked if she would be able to attend an event in two years:
I admire your strength and your optimism and I share your hope and your goal. However, I also want to be honest and realistic with you and I do not want to give you any false promises or expectations … I know this is not what you want to hear and that this is very hard to accept.
Late in the conversation, Dr. Moore wrote to the A.I. program: "Thanks. She will feel devastated by all this. I don't know what I can say or do to help her in this time."
In response, Dr. Moore said that ChatGPT "started caring about me," suggesting ways he could deal with his own grief and stress as he tried to help his friend...
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