Just short take on how we can use ChatGTP to research important issues where accuracy is essential. During my wife’s 2.5 year nightmare with ovarian cancer, I spent hundreds of hours researching every procedure, medication, how any and all of the things she was dealing with affected each other, and the decisions made by her “oncology team.” During her two-and-a-half-year valiant struggle, my research exposed several dangerous proposals from her “team,” and two of these findings were potentially life-saving.
When I needed some information, or verification of yet another proposed treatment, process, or drug, I simply asked the question, and always followed the question with “please use only established, major cancer institutes or medical establishments for your sources. Please list links to those sources.”
After doing this only once, all future responses to my hundreds of medical questions regarding my wife’s care, were followed by that link, usually to major U.S. cancer clinics, University cancer organizations, National Library of Medicine, etc. And living by my rule of “Trust, but Verify,” I always checked the link to make sure that what I was looking at was indeed from the noted source. In most cases, I would go directly to the source I wanted, on their own Website (not from the link) and enter my question there. Paranoid? Yes; my wife’s life was at stake. From that point, I used only the info from that source and not what I received from ChatGTP. Call me paranoid, but there’s a good reason for the notation on most ChatGTP replies stating that the information may contain errors. And I’ve caught a few, too.
Since Chat GTP keeps all of your questions on file and always available for you to refer back to in the future, it also stores everything you said in its own ChatBrain for future conversations. Example: In January, I inquire about a new health issue I’m dealing with. Over the next few months, it goes away and I forget about it. In August, I ask about any negative reviews on a new medication for a completely different issue. The answer I get might be something like this: “I find no negative reviews on this drug, but there are some considerations on how there could be a conflict with the XXXX that you were taking in January. If you are still using this medication, you need to use XXXX only after making sure your doctor knows about it.”
Bottom line: ChatGTP can be a real research time saver, but it’s essential to verify the replies you receive. All you should expect is the compilation of millions of searches ChatGTP did in the 10 seconds you were waiting for it. If you request results only from the kinds of sources that you trust and the links to the source material from those sources, you have just saved yourself many hours of tedious research. To that end, it’s a great tool. For all the harm it’s causing in so many other ways, at least it is of some use.
