AI doctors? Google already testing AI chatbots similar to Bard, ChatGPT in hospitals

Google has been testing its medical AI chatbot, Med-PaLM 2, in hospitals, including the Mayo Clinic research hospital. According to a report by WSJ, the AI chatbot was being tested since April. Med-PaLM 2 is an AI tool designed to provide answers to medical questions. It is an updated version of PaLM 2, which was announced at Google I/O in May. The chatbot is trained on a curated set of medical expert demonstrations to improve its healthcare conversation capabilities.

The report cites an internal mail saying Google's Med-PaLM 2 can be particularly helpful in countries with limited access to doctors. However, there are some accuracy issues with the chatbot, as highlighted in a research paper published by Google in May. Physicians found more inaccuracies and irrelevant information in the answers provided by Med-PaLM 2 compared to those provided by other doctors.

Despite the accuracy issues, Med-PaLM 2 performed well in other metrics, such as showing evidence of reasoning, providing consensus-supported answers, and demonstrating correct comprehension. The issue of inaccuracies have also plagued other popular chatbots available to the public including OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's own Bard.

Furthermore, the report claims that customers testing Med-PaLM 2 will have control over their data, which will be encrypted, and Google will not have access to it.

According to Greg Corrado (cited in the report), Google's senior research director, Med-PaLM 2 is still in its early stages. While he wouldn't personally rely on it for his family's healthcare, he believes that Med-PaLM 2 expands the potential benefits of AI in healthcare significantly.

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