KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Readers cannot readily distinguish between healthcare text written by a human or by AI.
• As the use of generative AI in medical writing increases, clear guidance and regulations are needed.

The use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow apace, and recent research suggests that the fields of medical writing and medical publishing are no exception. While these  tools can be a powerful means of increasing efficiencies, concerns remain about their use in a sphere that requires “accurate and complete information”. AI-generated content can contain ‘hallucinations’ and inaccurate or biased details, which can be difficult for even experts to identify. This highlights the importance, for professionals and patients alike, of being able to distinguish material created by AI from that developed by humans. Unfortunately, this task can be harder than you think.

Even healthcare professionals struggle to identify AI-generated content

In a recent edition of Medical Writing from the European Medical Writing Association, Natalie Bourré explained how her research sheds light on this complex issue. Bourré asked survey respondents to tease apart healthcare-related content written by humans from that created by AI. Bourré found that:

• overall, respondents were correct only 54% of the time
• surprisingly, healthcare professionals did not fare better than others in differentiating AI- versus human-created content
• medical writers were slightly better at spotting AI-generated text than other respondents.

Other groups have reported similar results and found that AI can create “compelling disinformation”. These issues are even more concerning when considered alongside earlier research by Bourré, which found that readers can be overconfident in their ability to spot AI-generated content.

What’s next? Shaping AI usage in medical writing

Bourré calls for clear guidance and regulations on the use of AI in medical writing. These safeguards would help the medical publishing community to harness the efficiencies and improved accessibility that AI may bring, while maintaining the accuracy and credibility of medical research.

[Clear guidance and regulations on the use of AI] would help the medical publishing community to harness the efficiencies and improved accessibility that AI may bring, while maintaining the accuracy and credibility of medical research.

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