4 ms·

I guess I don’t understand how it’s dangerous. I’m not giving myself any kind of independent treatment based on the output of an LLM. But it provides possibilit

I guess I don’t understand how it’s dangerous. I’m not giving myself any kind of independent treatment based on the output of an LLM. But it provides possibilities that doctors may have overlooked. Those doctors can then empirically assess the possibility in detail to determine whether it is correct.

jasonjmcghee 2y ago
I think parent comment is suggesting it's dangerous for you to publicly tell others that ChatGPT is better than their doctor at diagnosing them (however little of your doctor's attention you get) regardless of whether there is or isn't truth to it in certain cases. People can't know when they should/can trust an llm over a doctor. People will also misuse LLMs in the context of medical diagnosis where asking the right questions and examining the right places (and properly) can be critical. People have biases, people can have psychosomatic symptoms, people can be easily influenced, etc.
- dartos 2y ago
  > I think parent comment is suggesting it's dangerous for you to publicly tell others that ChatGPT is better than their doctor at diagnosing them (however little of your doctor's attention you get) regardless of whether there is or isn't truth to it in certain cases. Yes, exactly. Doubly so when one has no medical expertise.
bombcar 2y ago
The danger is on the other side, you give the AI all your symptoms, it tells you you're fine, nothing is wrong, don't do anything. And then you ignore it and don't go to the doctor and fall over dead. Unlikely, probably. ChatGPT aims to please. There's also the risk that it recommends something that is in appropriate, but within your ability (like over-the-counter meds that shouldn't be used in your condition). But - all this stuff happens all the time anyway. Most people don't involve a doctor until they encounter something really wrong that they don't recognize. They're more likely to mention it to someone else offhand and may take whatever recommendation they get.
- throwaway153371 2y ago
  > it tells you you're fine, nothing is wrong, don't do anything Fair point. I could see a lot of people doing that.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- menaerus 2y ago
  > The danger is on the other side, you give the AI all your symptoms, it tells you you're fine, nothing is wrong, don't do anything. It goes both ways. Replace "you give the AI" with "you give the doctor" and the issue "nothing is wrong" does not magically disappear. As a matter of fact, many doctors I have spoken with couldn't diagnose a thing and I wouldn't trust them. One of them googled about the potential symptoms of the disease in front of me because he had no familiarity with it. And that's fine I guess since humans cannot know everything? But this only reinforces the point that LLMs can definitely have their place in assisting people, and their doctors, with diagnosing their health conditions. Imagine you have a doctor who has read through literally all the medical books, documentation, research topics, experiments ... whatnot. Human of that kind does not and simply cannot exist. I think not many people understand the value and potential of LLMs, no matter how much this particular topic would be seen as sensitive or controversial.
dartos 2y ago
> I’m not giving myself any kind of independent treatment based on the output of an LLM. But it provides possibilities that doctors may have overlooked. You might not, but others would. I mean people take random advice from the internet all the time. IIRC There was a whole craze about ingesting or injecting bleach to “cure autism” or something. Random advice from an LLM is no better. Even worse, maybe, since there’s not going to be a bunch of negative replies to whatever the LLM outputs.

jasonjmcghee 2y ago

I think parent comment is suggesting it's dangerous for you to publicly tell others that ChatGPT is better than their doctor at diagnosing them (however little of your doctor's attention you get) regardless of whether there is or isn't truth to it in certain cases. People can't know when they should/can trust an llm over a doctor. People will also misuse LLMs in the context of medical diagnosis where asking the right questions and examining the right places (and properly) can be critical. People have biases, people can have psychosomatic symptoms, people can be easily influenced, etc.

dartos 2y ago
> I think parent comment is suggesting it's dangerous for you to publicly tell others that ChatGPT is better than their doctor at diagnosing them (however little of your doctor's attention you get) regardless of whether there is or isn't truth to it in certain cases. Yes, exactly. Doubly so when one has no medical expertise.

bombcar 2y ago

The danger is on the other side, you give the AI all your symptoms, it tells you you're fine, nothing is wrong, don't do anything. And then you ignore it and don't go to the doctor and fall over dead. Unlikely, probably. ChatGPT aims to please. There's also the risk that it recommends something that is in appropriate, but within your ability (like over-the-counter meds that shouldn't be used in your condition). But - all this stuff happens all the time anyway. Most people don't involve a doctor until they encounter something really wrong that they don't recognize. They're more likely to mention it to someone else offhand and may take whatever recommendation they get.

throwaway153371 2y ago
> it tells you you're fine, nothing is wrong, don't do anything Fair point. I could see a lot of people doing that.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
menaerus 2y ago
> The danger is on the other side, you give the AI all your symptoms, it tells you you're fine, nothing is wrong, don't do anything. It goes both ways. Replace "you give the AI" with "you give the doctor" and the issue "nothing is wrong" does not magically disappear. As a matter of fact, many doctors I have spoken with couldn't diagnose a thing and I wouldn't trust them. One of them googled about the potential symptoms of the disease in front of me because he had no familiarity with it. And that's fine I guess since humans cannot know everything? But this only reinforces the point that LLMs can definitely have their place in assisting people, and their doctors, with diagnosing their health conditions. Imagine you have a doctor who has read through literally all the medical books, documentation, research topics, experiments ... whatnot. Human of that kind does not and simply cannot exist. I think not many people understand the value and potential of LLMs, no matter how much this particular topic would be seen as sensitive or controversial.

dartos 2y ago

> I’m not giving myself any kind of independent treatment based on the output of an LLM. But it provides possibilities that doctors may have overlooked. You might not, but others would. I mean people take random advice from the internet all the time. IIRC There was a whole craze about ingesting or injecting bleach to “cure autism” or something. Random advice from an LLM is no better. Even worse, maybe, since there’s not going to be a bunch of negative replies to whatever the LLM outputs.