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ChatGPT diagnosed a boy with a rare disease after spending three years visiting more than a dozen doctors.
Alex was four years old when he began experiencing chronic pain. His mother, Courtney, said that if he didn’t take painkillers every day, he would have “giant” seizures. Shortly after, he developed other unusual symptoms, such as chewing things.
Courtney spent the next three years searching for the answer and consulting with 17 doctors. Finally, she asked ChatGPT, whose research has shown that she can be right up to 72 percent of the time.
The chatbot returned with a diagnosis of tethered cord syndrome, a condition that causes the spinal cord to abnormally attach to the spinal canal, restricting blood flow as children grow. This causes numbness, pain, muscle weakness, and problems with motor control.
When she saw the chatbot’s diagnosis, Courtney realized it “made a lot of sense.”
Alex began experiencing pain, mood swings, and sleep problems starting at the age of four. It took him three years and using ChatGPT to find his diagnosis of spina bifida and tethered cord syndrome.
Although ChatGPT does not have a medical degree, recent research suggests that he could make a diagnosis as frequently as young doctors.
‘We saw so many doctors. At one point we ended up in the emergency room. I kept pushing,” he told Today.com. “I actually spent the night on the (computer) … going through all this stuff.”
Alex’s personality also began to change. While chewing on things, Courtney said his normally sweet demeanor turned into “this crazy man with tantrums who didn’t exist the rest of the time.”
He was exhausted and in a bad mood. A dentist suspected he may have been grinding his teeth and referred the family to a specialist, who placed an expander in Alex’s mouth to help him breathe better at night.
While it seemed like a solution at first, more symptoms appeared. Alex stopped growing, which a pediatrician attributed to the pandemic. He also dragged his left foot when walking and developed severe headaches.
Courtney reviewed Alex’s test results line by line and entered them into ChatGPT. The chatbot returned with tethered cord syndrome.
Tethered cord syndrome occurs when the spinal cord becomes attached to the spinal canal. It primarily affects children, and as affected children grow, the spinal cord stretches and restricts blood flow.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, symptoms include difficulty walking, discolored spots on the skin, numbness in the legs and back, severe pain in the legs or back, scoliosis, bladder and bowel control problems, and loss of mass. muscular.
It occurs in less than 1 percent of annual births in the United States, estimates suggest.
Alex’s case was caused by spina bifida, which occurs when the spine that protects the spinal cord does not form and close normally. Alex has the mildest form of the condition, spina bifida occulta, which causes a small gap in the spine but does not damage the nerves.
This form is more difficult to diagnose since the defect is smaller and harder to see. Courtney said Alex’s defect looks more like a birthmark on the top of her buttocks that no one saw.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1,400 babies in the U.S. are born with spina bifida each year. About 1,000 babies in the UK are born with it annually, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service estimates.
Although ChatGPT does not have a medical degree, recent research suggests that he could make a diagnosis as frequently as young doctors.
A study published last month by researchers at Mass General Brigham in Boston found that ChatGPT found the correct diagnosis 72 percent of the time, about the same rate as a medical resident. Most experienced doctors are usually right about 95 percent of the time, experts suggest.
Additionally, a study published earlier this year found that ChatGPT could pass the country’s gold standard medical exam, the three-part Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), with a score between 52.4 and 75 percent.
The approval threshold is around 60 percent.
And research from the University of California, San Diego found that ChatGPT provided higher quality answers and was more empathetic than real doctors.
The AI showed empathy 45 percent of the time, compared to five percent among doctors. They also provided more detailed answers 79 percent of the time, compared to 21 percent for doctors.
Additionally, ChatGPT was preferred 79 percent of the time, compared to 21 percent for doctors.
As for Alex, he is now “happy and lucky,” his mother said, and he likes playing sports and spending time with other kids.
He underwent surgery on his tethered spinal cord earlier this summer and, although he is still recovering, is expected to make a quick recovery.
“There’s no one to connect the dots for you,” Courtney said. “You have to be your children’s advocate.”