ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques are showing significant potential in the medical field. The rapid advancement in artificial intelligence methods suggests their soon-to-be essential role in physicians' practices. OBJECTIVES: This study seeks to assess and compare the readability, clarity, and precision of medical knowledge responses provided by three large language models (LLMs) and informed consent forms for 14 common aesthetic surgical procedures, as prepared by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). METHODS: The efficacy, readability and accuracy of three leading LLMs, ChatGPT-4 (San Francisco, CA), Gemini (Google, Mountain View, California), and Copilot (Microsoft Corp, Redmond, WA), was systematically evaluated using 14 different prompts related to the risks of 14 common aesthetic procedures. Alongside these LLM responses, risk sections from the informed consent forms of these procedures, provided by the ASPS, were also reviewed. RESULTS: The risk factor segments of the combined general and specific operation consent forms were rated highest for medical knowledge accuracy. (p<0.05) Regarding readability and clarity, the procedure-specific informed consent forms, including LLMs, scored highest scores. (p<0.05) However, these same forms received the lowest score for medical knowledge accuracy. (p<0.05) Interestingly, surgeons preferred patient-facing materials created by Chat GPT-4, citing superior accuracy and medical information compared to other artificial intelligence (AI) tools. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians prefer patient-facing materials created by Chat GPT-4 over other AI tools due to their precise and comprehensive medical knowledge. Importantly, adherence to ASPS' strong recommendation for signing both the procedure-specific and the general informed consent forms can avoid potential future complications and ethical concerns, thereby ensuring patients receive adequate information.
