Pilot study shows potential for using AI chatbots to assist public health campaigns in reducing vaccine hesitancy as well as providing helpful advice on STIs and access to care.
**Note: the release below is a special early release from the ESCMID Global Congress (formerly ECCMID, Barcelona, Spain, 27-30 April). Please credit the congress if you use this story**
**ECCMID has now changed name to ESCMID Global, please credit ESCMID Global Congress in all future stories**
New research being presented at this year's ESCMID Global Congress (formerly ECCMID) in Barcelona, Spain (27-30 April) suggests that the free-to-use, widely accessible ChatGPT could be an effective tool to help reduce vaccine hesitancy among the general public, as well as providing helpful advice on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in conjunction with sexual health clinics, by improving knowledge and access to care.
"Our findings showed that ChatGPT displayed a remarkable ability to accurately respond to a wide breadth of commonly asked questions, encompassing topics such as misconceptions around mRNA vaccination and the importance of testing for STIs," says lead author Dr Matthew Koh from the National University Health System (NUHS) in Singapore. "In the majority of instances, ChatGPT performed at the level of advice provided by professional organisations and guidelines."
Since its unveiling in November 2022, millions of people have used AI (artificial intelligence) chatbots like ChatGPT for everything from making music to answering trivia to helping with homework. But ChatGPT has been mired in issues around its accuracy.
Vaccines have stopped epidemics and almost eradicated deadly diseases in the past such as polio, but vaccine hesitancy, directly linked to misinformation—false, inaccurate information promoted as factual—is on the rise, resulting in lower vaccine uptake. Since the public debut of ChatGPT, individuals with mistrust of health professionals may be using the technology to address their concerns.
Similarly, for individuals trying to access information on sexual health, or those worried about the stigma and embarrassment of attending a clinic, or with limited access to healthcare, could find using ChatGPT is a good way to get answers about STIs.
To find out more, researchers from the NUHS in Singapore tested ChatGPT to see whether it could successfully provide answers to common questions about vaccination and STIs.
