Skip to main content

AI Shows Good Clinical Knowledge, Reasoning for Eye Issues

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on April 26, 2024.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, April 26, 2024 -- Large language models (LLMs) are approaching expert-level knowledge and reasoning skills in ophthalmology, according to a study published online April 17 in PLOS Digital Health.

Arun James Thirunavukarasu, M.B., B.Chir., from University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and colleagues evaluated the clinical potential of state-of-the-art LLMs in ophthalmology. Responses to 87 questions were compared for GPT-3.5, GPT-4, PaLM 2, LLaMA, expert ophthalmologists, and doctors in training.

The researchers found that the performance of GPT-4 (69 percent) was superior to performance of GPT-3.5 (48 percent), LLaMA (32 percent), and PaLM 2 (56 percent) and compared favorably with expert ophthalmologists (median, 76 percent), ophthalmology trainees (median, 59 percent), and unspecialized junior doctors (median, 43 percent). Low agreement between LLMs and doctors was due to idiosyncratic differences in knowledge and reasoning, with overall consistency across individuals and type. Grading ophthalmologists preferred GPT-4 responses over GPT-3.5 due to higher accuracy and relevance.

"LLMs are approaching expert-level ophthalmological knowledge and reasoning, and may be useful for providing eye-related advice where access to health care professionals is limited," the authors write. "Further research is required to explore potential avenues of clinical deployment."

One author disclosed a patent on a deep learning system to detect retinal disease.

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

BMI Cutoff of 30 for Obesity May Be Too High for Middle-Aged, Older Adults

FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- The optimal body mass index (BMI) cutoff point appears to be 27 kg/m2 for detecting obesity in middle-aged and older adults, according to a study presented...

Emergency Inguinal Hernia Surgery Rates Increased With Lower Country Income

FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- For patients undergoing inguinal hernia surgery, emergency surgery rates increase from high- to low-income countries, according to a study published online...

Maternal Serum Alpha-Fetoprotein Levels Higher in Black Than White Women

FRIDAY, May 31, 2024 -- Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels are higher in Black than White pregnant women, supporting the use of accounting for these differences in...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.