← Back to context

Comment by taberiand

3 years ago

And much like software development, it will all soon be done by ChatGPT.

ChatGPT correctly identified my wife's condition in a couple seconds when a dozen doctors failed to for over a decade. Less than half a percent of people suffer from this condition, but enough do that doctors should have thought about it. All I did was write down the symptoms and poof. It was actually really frustrating that doctors were mystified but this tech gave us a new (and ultimately correct) path of inquiry. I felt robbed of all that time. My trust in doctors is at an all-time low, but her medication is effective, so something in the system works.

  • It took four years after graduation for me to obtain enough knowledge and training to help my own mother with her chronic pain. I literally did not know what to do until relatively recently. Other doctors didn't either and they tried everything.

    I also nearly died myself about 2 years ago. Appendicitis of all things. Unusual presentation. I didn't see it. Surgeons didn't see it. Gastroenterologists didn't see it. Ultrasounds were inconclusive. I couldn't believe it when I saw the CT scan. I underwent surgery. Twice. The infection would not go away despite 5 intravenous antibiotics 24/7. They wanted to operate a third time and I became convinced I would die if I went under the knife again. Then they somehow managed to fly in an interventional radiologist who found and drained a few abscesses. 40 days I was at the hospital.

    I feel so grateful to be alive.

Local models integrated into EMR systems could be a great tool for doctors but not ChatGPT. I really don't recommend feeding confidential medical information into a corporation's computer. At least doctors are ethically obligated to maintain confidentiality.

  • To be clear, I'm just using ChatGPT as a (slightly tongue in cheek) shorthand for LLMs in general, but I do think there is a large potential for them within medicine.

    They are so unreasonably effective for being, fundamentally, word predictors.