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The potential, limitations, and future of diagnostics enhanced by generative artificial intelligence

  • Takanobu Hirosawa ORCID logo EMAIL logo and Taro Shimizu
Published/Copyright: July 11, 2024
Diagnosis
From the journal Diagnosis Volume 11 Issue 4

Abstract

Objectives

This short communication explores the potential, limitations, and future directions of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) in enhancing diagnostics.

Methods

This commentary reviews current applications and advancements in GAI, particularly focusing on its integration into medical diagnostics. It examines the role of GAI in supporting medical interviews, assisting in differential diagnosis, and aiding clinical reasoning through the lens of dual-process theory. The discussion is supported by recent examples and theoretical frameworks to illustrate the practical and potential uses of GAI in medicine.

Results

GAI shows significant promise in enhancing diagnostic processes by supporting the translation of patient descriptions into visual formats, providing differential diagnoses, and facilitating complex clinical reasoning. However, limitations such as the potential for generating medical misinformation, known as hallucinations, exist. Furthermore, the commentary highlights the integration of GAI with both intuitive and analytical decision-making processes in clinical diagnostics, demonstrating potential improvements in both the speed and accuracy of diagnoses.

Conclusions

While GAI presents transformative potential for medical diagnostics, it also introduces risks that must be carefully managed. Future advancements should focus on refining GAI technologies to better align with human diagnostic reasoning, ensuring GAI enhances rather than replaces the medical professionals’ expertise.

Keywords: diagnosis; generative artificial intelligence; large language model; natural language processing
Corresponding author: Takanobu Hirosawa, MD, PhD, Department of Diagnostic and Generalist Medicine, Dokkyo Medical University, 880 Kitakobayashi, Mibu-cho, Simotsuga-gun, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

This study was made possible using the resources from the Department of Diagnostic and Generalist Medicine, Dokkyo Medical University.

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  3. Author contributions: The authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  4. Competing interests: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  5. Research funding: None declared.

  6. Data availability: Not applicable.

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Received: 2024-05-22
Accepted: 2024-06-06
Published Online: 2024-07-11

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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  4. Review
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  6. Guidelines and Recommendations
  7. Root cause analysis of cases involving diagnosis
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  10. Interprofessional clinical reasoning education
  11. Original Articles
  12. Quality of heart failure registration in primary care: observations from 1 million electronic health records in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area
  13. Typology of solutions addressing diagnostic disparities: gaps and opportunities
  14. Diagnostic errors and characteristics of patients seen at a general internal medicine outpatient clinic with a referral for diagnosis
  15. Cost-benefit considerations of the biased diagnostician
  16. Delayed diagnosis of new onset pediatric diabetes leading to diabetic ketoacidosis: a retrospective cohort study
  17. Monocyte distribution width (MDW) kinetic for monitoring sepsis in intensive care unit
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  19. External Quality Assessment (EQA) scheme for serological diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2 detection in Sicily Region (Italy), in the period 2020–2022
  20. Recent mortality rates due to complications of medical and surgical care in the US
  21. Short Communication
  22. The potential, limitations, and future of diagnostics enhanced by generative artificial intelligence
  23. Case Report – Lessons in Clinical Reasoning
  24. Lessons in clinical reasoning – pitfalls, myths, and pearls: a case of persistent dysphagia and patient partnership
  25. Letters to the Editor
  26. The ‘curse of knowledge’: when medical expertise can sometimes be a liability
  27. A new approach for identifying innate immune defects
https://doi.org/10.1515/dx-2024-0095
Keywords for this article
diagnosis; generative artificial intelligence; large language model; natural language processing

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Should APTT become part of thrombophilia screening?
  4. Review
  5. n-3 fatty acids and the risk of atrial fibrillation, review
  6. Guidelines and Recommendations
  7. Root cause analysis of cases involving diagnosis
  8. Opinion Papers
  9. What is diagnostic safety? A review of safety science paradigms and rethinking paths to improving diagnosis
  10. Interprofessional clinical reasoning education
  11. Original Articles
  12. Quality of heart failure registration in primary care: observations from 1 million electronic health records in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area
  13. Typology of solutions addressing diagnostic disparities: gaps and opportunities
  14. Diagnostic errors and characteristics of patients seen at a general internal medicine outpatient clinic with a referral for diagnosis
  15. Cost-benefit considerations of the biased diagnostician
  16. Delayed diagnosis of new onset pediatric diabetes leading to diabetic ketoacidosis: a retrospective cohort study
  17. Monocyte distribution width (MDW) kinetic for monitoring sepsis in intensive care unit
  18. Are shortened aPTT values always to be attributed only to preanalytical problems?
  19. External Quality Assessment (EQA) scheme for serological diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2 detection in Sicily Region (Italy), in the period 2020–2022
  20. Recent mortality rates due to complications of medical and surgical care in the US
  21. Short Communication
  22. The potential, limitations, and future of diagnostics enhanced by generative artificial intelligence
  23. Case Report – Lessons in Clinical Reasoning
  24. Lessons in clinical reasoning – pitfalls, myths, and pearls: a case of persistent dysphagia and patient partnership
  25. Letters to the Editor
  26. The ‘curse of knowledge’: when medical expertise can sometimes be a liability
  27. A new approach for identifying innate immune defects
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