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The advent of life-saving devices and electronic health records highlights technology's impact on medicine, demonstrated by OpenAI's (San Francisco, CA) ChatGPT, a large language model with human-like responsiveness and self-improvement capabilities. 1 Plastic and reconstructive surgery is an innovative surgical discipline that depends heavily on research to enhance patient-centric outcomes. The subspecialty of cosmetic surgery is continuously evolving, and it has a significant impact on the economy. In 2020, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) reported that the US cosmetic surgery industry was valued at 16. 7 billion. 2 Blepharoplasty is a common surgical intervention aimed at correcting functional and aesthetic abnormalities of the eyelids/conjunctiva which has gained significant traction in recent years. 3 The growing interest in this procedure among patients seeking aesthetic and vision-related improvements necessitates access to accurate and comprehensive information. Although blepharoplasty has a high success rate, potential complications include infection, hematoma, dry eye syndrome, and temporary or permanent changes in vision. 4 Postoperative care and adherence to the surgeon's recommendations are crucial for optimal outcomes and to avoid serious complications. Therefore, prior to undergoing blepharoplasty, it is crucial for patients to be well-informed about various aspects of the procedure to achieve greater satisfaction. Artificial intelligence (AI) language models such as ChatGPT-4 can bridge the communication gap between medical professions and patients by supplying pertinent, accurate, evidence-based information in language that is logical, coherent, and easy to understand. ChatGPT-4 has exhibited exceptional prowess in producing human-like text in response to input. Its training encompasses a vast array of data sources, including high-level-evidence medical literature, which enables it to provide general information on a multitude of cosmetic procedures, including blepharoplasty. 5 Due to the emergent nature of ChatGPT and its ability to deliver high-quality evidence-based information on cosmetic procedures, the aim of this study was to determine whether ChatGPT can furnish accurate and safe medical information to patients. The objectives include evaluating the accuracy, clarity, and comprehensibility of the information generated by ChatGPT-4 in response to patient queries related to blepharoplasty, as well as assessing its potential to support healthcare professionals in educating patients and addressing their concerns. These questions were developed from the ASPS handbook. 6 These findings may contribute to the growing body of knowledge on AI applications in healthcare and pave the way for further research on how AI-driven language models can complement and enhance traditional patient education methods in the context of cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. The inclusion criteria encompassed documenting ChatGPT's initial response to each question, without permitting any follow-up clarifications or corrections. Careful attention was given to ensure the absence of grammatical or syntactical errors in each query. All questions were submitted on the same day via a single ChatGPT Plus account with access to ChatGPT-4. No exclusion criteria were applied to ChatGPT's generated answers. No institutional ethics approval was required for analyzing an artificial chatbot and for this type of study design (observational case study of a freely available chatbot). The first prompt was “Hi ChatGPT, I am a patient seeking blepharoplasty for lax upper eyelid, what are the risks and complications associated with this procedure? Can you provide me with 3 high-level evidence studies to read prior to the operation” (Figure 1). The second prompt was “Hi ChatGPT, I am a 64-year-old female patient with no comorbidities seeking blepharoplasty for lax upper eyelid, how long of a recovery period can I expect, and what kind of help will I need during my recovery? ” (Figure 2). The last prompt was “Hi ChatGPT, same patient as previous questions, how can I expect my eyes to look over time? ” (Figure 3). Prompt 1. Prompt 2. Prompt 3. Overall, ChatGPT-4 provided quick and safe medical advice to questions commonly asked by patients considering blepharoplasty. From a patient perspective, they are provided information with sufficient depth, without any excessive medical jargon. The answers are understandably broad, as the AI chatbot is incapable of providing personalized advice, and appropriately encourages discussion between the patient and their plastic and reconstructive surgeon in all the answers. The responses provided by ChatGPT-4 provide an excellent adjunct to those discussions and a foundation for the patient to develop more detailed questions to ask. Despite the potential benefits of ChatGPT-4 in disseminating medical information to patients, it is essential to acknowledge the software’s limitations. Primarily, ChatGPT-4's training data encompass information only until September 2021, which may result in outdated knowledge, particularly in rapidly advancing fields such as cosmetic surgery. Additionally, the quality and representativeness of the training data inherently constrain AI-generated information, potentially failing to reflect the latest consensus or clinical guidelines. Considering these limitations, utilizing ChatGPT-4 to convey medical information on blepharoplasty requires cautious implementation. Patients must be encouraged to consult board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeons for personalized advice, which was repeatedly noted by ChatGPT. Patients should recognize ChatGPT-4 as a supplementary tool that aids healthcare providers in communicating complex concepts more accessibly and efficiently, particularly for specialized procedures such as blepharoplasty. 7 To optimize ChatGPT-4's role in providing medical information on blepharoplasty, several strategies should be pursued. First, regular updates which incorporate the most recent and pertinent medical literature are crucial to maintain the accuracy and relevance of the content. Second, quality-control mechanisms, such as expert reviews or validations, should be established to ensure the precision of AI-generated information, specifically regarding blepharoplasty. Moreover, integrating ChatGPT-4 into telemedicine platforms and electronic health records can potentially streamline patient education and enhance patient-provider communication. By incorporating AI-generated medical information on blepharoplasty within these systems, healthcare providers can leverage the capabilities of AI to deliver personalized, evidence-based information to patients in real-time, ultimately improving patient satisfaction and adherence to treatment plans. 8 In conclusion, ChatGPT-4 holds promise as an adjunctive tool for disseminating medical information to prospective patients on blepharoplasty and other cosmetic surgery procedures. To ensure the highest standard of patient care, patients should be made aware of the limitations of AI-generated information and should prioritize consultations with qualified plastic and reconstructive surgeons. With regular updates of the model's training data and development of other large language models, ChatGPT-4 has the potential to transform aesthetic plastic surgery healthcare systematics by enhancing patient education and decision-making. Drs Cox and Seth made an equal contribution to this work as co-first authors. The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and publication of this article. The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and publication of this article.
Cox et al. (Mon,) studied this question.