ChatGPT-4.0 vs. Google: Which Provides More Academic Answers to Patients' Questions on Arthroscopic Meniscus Repair?

Abstract

Competing Interests: Human subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve human participants or tissue. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.; Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of a Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT) to provide academic answers to frequently asked questions using a comparison with Google web search FAQs and answers. This study attempted to determine what patients ask on Google and ChatGPT and whether ChatGPT and Google provide factual information for patients about arthroscopic meniscus repair. Method A cleanly installed Google Chrome browser and ChatGPT were used to ensure no individual cookies, browsing history, other side data, or sponsored sites. The term "arthroscopic meniscus repair" was entered into the Google Chrome browser and ChatGPT. The first 15 frequently asked questions (FAQs), answers, and sources of answers to FAQs were identified from both ChatGPT and Google search engines. Results Timeline of recovery (20%) and technical details (20%) were the most commonly asked question categories of a total of 30 questions. Technical details and timeline of recovery questions were more commonly asked on ChatGPT compared to Google (technical detail: 33.3% vs. 6.6%, p=0.168; timeline of recovery: 26.6% vs. 13.3%, p=0.651). Answers to questions were more commonly from academic websites in website categories in ChatGPT compared to Google (93.3% vs. 20%, p=0.0001). The most common answers to frequently asked questions were academic (20%) and commercial (20%) in Google. Conclusion Compared to Google, ChatGPT provided significantly fewer references to commercial content and offered responses that were more aligned with academic sources. ChatGPT may be a valuable adjunct in patient education when used under physician supervision, ensuring information aligns with evidence-based practices. (Copyright © 2024, Eryilmaz et al.)