A Twitter has posted his emotional experience with OpenAI ChatGPT-4, whose timely inference about his dog’s condition helped save its life just when hope was running out. Based on blood test results that were fed to it, ChatGPT-4 inferred that Sassy could be suffering from IMHA — a common autoimmune condition in dogs — something that the original vet could not diagnose. IMHA was indeed confirmed later and Sassy is well on her way to complete recovery.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT is the current talk of the town and has found use cases for all kinds of stuff including writing articles, explaining concepts, homework assignments, coding, preparing for interviews, and even pretending to be a Linux terminal. But a Twitter user found out that ChatGPT can help with fairly accurate diagnosis as well.
The user, who goes by the handle @peakcooper on Twitter, details how ChatGPT-4 provided a better diagnosis for Sassy, a Border Collie breed, than its usual vet. It all started with Cooper getting his dog treated for a tick-borne disease called babesiosis. Though things started improving after the initial diagnosis, soon he noticed his dog’s gums becoming pale again.
The initial blood test revealed severe anemia but ruled out other co-infections associated with tick-borne disease. Things were continuing to deteriorate for Sassy with no respite in sight and passing day becoming emotionally difficult to cope with.
Meanwhile, Cooper decided to give ChatGPT-4 a try. He fed the results of diagnoses performed so far to ChatGPT to see how the large language model (LLM) would infer them. After a disclaimer that said, “I am not a veterinarian”, the AI inferred that there could be other underlying causes for the anemia.
Of the possible reasons, the most probable one seemed to be immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA). IMHA is an autoimmune condition in dogs, in which the body’s immune system attacks its own red blood cells.
Cooper said that another veterinarian also felt IMHA could be a possible diagnosis in this case, and this was confirmed by testing. Sassy has since been receiving treatment for IMHA and her owner is happy that she’s made a near-complete recovery.
The interesting part was that ChatGPT-4 could make sense of the inputted blood test results and lab reference ranges and interpret the implication of each test. It may not be noted that such an inference was possible only with GPT-4 and not with GPT-3.5 according to the dog owner.
While AI cannot substitute a qualified doctor, it can help users with preliminary understanding of a diagnosis. The possibility that AI can speed up diagnostic services is not far-fetched at this point.
#GPT4 saved my dog’s life.
After my dog got diagnosed with a tick-borne disease, the vet started her on the proper treatment, and despite a serious anemia, her condition seemed to be improving relatively well.
After a few days however, things took a turn for the worse 1/
— Cooper ☕ (@peakcooper) March 25, 2023
Here’s a reproduction of the entire diagnostic from start to finish.
Consists of me stating symptoms and facts, at certain points telling it which tests were ran, and asking the AI for its opinion on what is the most likely option until getting the complete diagnosis. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/4Qp5XIs9Eg
— Cooper ☕ (@peakcooper) March 27, 2023
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Though a cell and molecular biologist by training, I have been drawn towards computers from a very young age ever since I got my first PC in 1998. My passion for technology grew quite exponentially with the times, and it has been an incredible experience from being a much solicited source for tech advice and troubleshooting among family and friends to joining Notebookcheck in 2017 as a professional tech journalist. Now, I am a Lead Editor at Notebookcheck covering news and reviews encompassing a wide gamut of the technology landscape for Indian and global audiences. When I am not hunting for the next big story or taking complex measurements for reviews, you can find me unwinding to a nice read, listening to some soulful music, or trying out a new game.
Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 2023-03-30 (Update: 2023-03-30)
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Vaidyanathan Subramaniam