ChatGpt is only as smart as the info it scrapes from the internet.
In other words, not very smart.
I believe the term artificial “intelligence” is unfortunate, as it places an unnecessary focus on such a loaded term. It might be better to think of it as a coming technology that could be useful.
Consider the following prompt by me and response by Google’s Bard AI. Bard does not develop its response by picking a few timely articles on the subject. It attempts to summarize a vast trove of information, billions of data points, it has been trained on.
I do not claim the response is “smart“. I do believe the technology has the potential to be very useful.
ME: Compare and contrast the “white backlash” circa 1966, following the passage of the Voting Right Bill of 1965 to the same phenomena following the election for 2 terms of the first black President, Barack Obama.
BARD: Sure, here is a comparison of the white backlashes of 1966 and 2008:
1966
Cause: Passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which ended legal discrimination in voting and led to an increase in black voter registration and turnout.
Manifestations: Increased support for conservative politicians and policies, such as the rise of George Wallace and the passage of Proposition 14 in California, which repealed affirmative action in housing.
Impact: The white backlash of 1966 helped to slow the progress of the civil rights movement and led to a period of political and social conservatism in the United States.
2008
Cause: Election of Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States.
Manifestations: Increased racial resentment, hostility towards affirmative action, and support for Donald Trump, who ran on a platform of white nationalism.
Impact: The white backlash of 2008 has contributed to the rise of white nationalism and the polarization of American politics.
There are some similarities between the two white backlashes. Both were motivated by a fear of losing white privilege and power. Both were accompanied by an increase in racial resentment and hostility towards affirmative action. And both had a negative impact on the progress of racial equality in the United States.
However, there are also some important differences between the two backlashes. The white backlash of 1966 was more widespread and intense than the backlash of 2008. It also had a more direct impact on the political landscape, leading to the election of conservative politicians like George Wallace and the passage of laws that rolled back civil rights gains.
The backlash of 2008, on the other hand, has been more diffuse and less organized. It has also been more focused on cultural issues, such as opposition to same-sex marriage and immigration. However, it has still had a significant impact on American politics, contributing to the rise of Donald Trump and the polarization of the country.
It is important to note that not all white people were opposed to the progress of the civil rights movement in 1966 or the election of Barack Obama in 2008. However, the white backlashes of these two years demonstrate that there is a significant minority of white Americans who are resistant to change and who are willing to support policies that harm minority groups.
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Quick update: Read an interesting article in the Times about physicians using ChatGPT in their practices and for patient education and communications. It is not perfect, but it seems to have real potential. Smart?
“Dr. Rodman and other doctors at Beth Israel Deaconess have asked GPT-4 for possible diagnoses in difficult cases. In a study released last month in the medical journal JAMA, they found that it did better than most doctors on weekly diagnostic challenges published in the New England Journal of Medicine.”
I asked Bard about this study:
BARD: The study you are referring to was published in JAMA Internal Medicine in April 2023. It was titled "Artificial Intelligence Outperforms Internists in Identifying Serious Illnesses from Clinical Notes."
The study looked at the performance of an AI system called CLINICS on a series of weekly diagnostic challenges published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). These challenges present doctors with brief clinical descriptions of patients and ask them to identify the most likely diagnosis.
The AI system outperformed internists on the NEJM challenges, correctly identifying the most likely diagnosis in 81% of cases compared to 71% for internists. The AI system was also more accurate than internists at identifying serious illnesses, correctly identifying them in 92% of cases compared to 81% for internists.
The study's authors concluded that "CLINICS is a promising tool for improving the accuracy of diagnostic decision-making in primary care." They noted that the AI system is still under development, but that it has the potential to "significantly improve the quality of care provided to patients."
Here are some additional details about the study:
The AI system was trained on a dataset of over 1 million clinical notes.
The study included 1,000 internists who were randomly assigned to either the AI system or a control group.
The study was conducted over a period of 6 months.
The study's findings are significant because they suggest that AI systems have the potential to improve the accuracy of diagnostic decision-making in primary care. This could lead to better outcomes for patients, as well as cost savings for the healthcare system.
It is important to note that the study was conducted in a single setting, and it is not yet clear how the AI system would perform in other settings. However, the study's findings are promising, and they suggest that AI systems have the potential to revolutionize the way that medicine is practiced.