Can Chatbot Artificial Intelligence Replace Infectious Diseases Physicians in the Management of Bloodstream Infections? A Prospective Cohort Study.

This article evaluates the quality and safety of management plans proposed by Chat Generative Pre-training Transformer 4 (ChatGPT-4), a chatbot artificial intelligence (AI), for patients with positive blood cultures in a tertiary care hospital setting. Over a one-month period, ChatGPT-4's diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations were compared prospectively with those of infectious diseases (ID) specialist consultants, using standardized clinical data. While ChatGPT-4 provided detailed and well-structured responses, its management plans were optimal in only 2% of cases, appropriate in 39%, inadequate in 43%, and potentially harmful in 16%, particularly due to errors in source control and antibiotic therapy. The study concludes that, as of 2023, relying solely on ChatGPT-4 for expert medical advice in severe infectious diseases remains unsafe, though future AI developments may enhance clinical decision support.