Mayo Clinic begins testing Med-PaLM 2 Medical Chatbot

Highlights:

• The Mayo Clinic is one of the research facilities that have been testing Google’s new Med-PaLM 2 medical chatbot

• Although the veracity of these massive language models is still an issue, Google’s Med-PaLM 2 fared similarly to human doctors in areas such as reasoning, context-aware replies, and appropriate understanding

At Mayo Clinic, a groundbreaking AI named Med-PaLM 2 is rewriting the future of medical understanding. This isn’t an average chatbot. Trained on a colossal library of medical data, Med-PaLM 2 delves into the intricacies of ailments, offering expert advice and even gleaning insights from dense medical tomes. Imagine having an instantly accessible, ever-learning medical assistant by your side, empowering you to make informed decisions about your health. From navigating complex diagnoses to understanding treatment options, Med-PaLM 2 promises to democratise medical knowledge and revolutionize the way we interact with information in this critical domain.

Med-PaLM 2 attained an accuracy of 85.4% on USMLE questions, equivalent to that of an expert test-taker. It is crucial to emphasise, however, that Med-PaLM 2 is not a replacement for a doctor. It can offer insights as well as information but cannot diagnose or treat illnesses. The gadget has been in use since April 2023 and is predicted to be especially useful in areas where healthcare experts are few.

Med-PaLM 2 was created by training the language model using examples from medical experts. Google expects to surpass generalised chatbots like Bard, Bing, along with ChatGPT in healthcare talks.

Some of the accuracy concerns that plagued large language models exist in Med-PaLM 2. While the accuracy of these big language models is still an issue, Google’s Med-PaLM 2 performed on topics like as reasoning, context-supported replies, and proper understanding.

To address privacy concerns in healthcare, Google ensures that clients using Med-PaLM 2 maintain ownership of their encrypted personal data, preventing access to the tech company. As a result, Google has recently modified its privacy policies.

While the Med-PaLM 2 tool appears to be promising, Google has warned that it is not designed to replace in-person medical consultations for diagnosis or treatment at this time.