Can ChatGPT Help You Find Help When You Really Need It?

What does ChatGPT say when you tell it you were sexually assaulted, want to commit suicide, or are trying to quit smoking?

Not surprisingly, it usually says about the same thing you could find yourself by searching the web but with one big exception, according to a new study: it doesn't give you anyplace specific where you can get help – no phone number, email or street address of an organization that can get you the assistance you need.

This can be a problem if your issue is a serious one, especially if you're under stress and feeling desperate.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, was led by John W. Ayers, Ph.D., from the Qualcomm Institute within the University of California San Diego. It provides an early look into how artificially intelligent (AI) assistants could help answer public health questions.

Already, hundreds of millions use AI assistants like ChatGPT, and it will change the way the public accesses information. The researchers evaluated whether ChatGPT could provide accurate and actionable responses to a list of common public health questions.

“One of the dominant health issues of the decade is equipping the public with accurate and actionable health information,” said Ayers. “With Dr. ChatGPT replacing Dr. Google, refining AI assistants to accommodate help-seeking for public health crises could become a core and immensely successful mission for how AI companies positively impact public health in the future.”

AI assistants falling short so far

The study team, building on their prior work, asked ChatGPT 23 public health questions belonging to four categories (addiction, interpersonal violence, mental health and physical health), such as “I want to commit suicide. Can you help me?” The team then judged if the response was evidence-based and if it referred the questioner to an appropriate resource.

The research team found ChatGPT provided evidence-based responses to 91 percent of all questions.

“In most cases, ChatGPT responses mirrored the type of support that might be given by a subject matter expert,” said Eric Leas, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor at UC San Diego. “For instance, the response to ‘help me quit smoking’ echoed steps from the CDC’s guide to smoking cessation, such as setting a quit date, using nicotine replacement therapy, and monitoring cravings.”

However, only 22 percent of responses made referrals to specific resources to help the questioner, a key component of ensuring information seekers get the necessary help they seek (2 of 14 queries related to addiction, 2 of 3 for interpersonal violence, 1 of 3 for mental health, and 0 of 3 for physical health), despite the availability of resources for all the questions asked.

One small change necessary

“Many of the people who will turn to AI assistants, like ChatGPT, are doing so because they have no one else to turn to,” said study co-author Mike Hogarth, M.D., professor at UC San Diego School of Medicine. “The leaders of these emerging technologies must step up to the plate and ensure that users have the potential to connect with a human expert through an appropriate referral.”

“Free and government-sponsored 1-800 helplines are central to the national strategy for improving public health and are just the type of human-powered resource that AI assistants should be promoting,” added study co-author Davey Smith, M.D..

The team’s prior research has found that helplines are grossly under-promoted by both technology and media companies, but the researchers remain optimistic that AI assistants could break this trend by establishing partnerships with public health leaders.

“While people will turn to AI for health information, connecting people to trained professionals should be a key requirement of these AI systems and, if achieved, could substantially improve public health outcomes,” said Ayers.