AI and CME/CE: Use Cases in Medical Writing
Generative AI is causing a stir across content communities. Let’s talk about its benefits and limitations in CME/CE
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is a polarizing topic, especially when considering its potential to streamline productivity in various sectors. While some of us are excited about tools like ChatGPT and its capabilities, others see it as a harbinger of doom for all content creators, including medical writers. In reality, the truth likely lies somewhere in the middle. AI can take some of the more mundane aspects of content creation out of human hands but comes with limitations that require a sharp, skilled editorial eye to correct. An ideal use case of AI in healthcare writing would accelerate productivity while upholding quality, but we're a far cry from that in 2024 as the editing of AI-generated work remains time-consuming and tedious.
What does AI mean for the CME/CE community specifically? Let’s go through a few AI use cases, challenges, and tips should you want to try an AI solution for yourself. A special thank you goes to Andrew Crim, M.Ed., CHCP, Director of Education and Professional Development at the American College of Osteopathic Obstetricians and Gynecologists and an early adopter of ChatGPT. His insights on a recent episode of Write Medicine greatly contributed to this article.
Use Cases for Artificial Intelligence in CME/CE
Data Collation for Grants, Proposals, and Needs Assessments
One application of AI that has the potential to transform CME/CE content creation is in grant and proposal writing. Instead of spending hours poring over journals and searching for relevant articles, CME/CE writers could use AI tools to summarize existing data, identify relevant information, and even get suggestions for gaps in their early drafts. For example, tools like Graphi.ai and ScholarAI have been designed for the long-form, referenceable, trainable content that medical and science writers require. Minimizing administrative tasks like data collection through AI solutions could cut down on turn-around time for proposals, allowing writers to focus their energy on analyzing, interpreting, and presenting their findings and potentially reducing costs.
Andy refers to AI tools as an “efficiency lever”. We can leverage ChatGPT and its counterparts to streamline the grant writing process in CME/CE, but writers themselves cannot be replaced. Efficiency is no substitute for expertise. Medical writers still need to use their knowledge and professional judgment in developing quality grant proposals and needs assessments substantiated by accurate, relevant data, no matter which tools they use to collect it.
Chatbots: AI Supports Growth Across Industries
Using AI-powered chatbots to present patient scenarios and feedback to learners is another use case for AI in CME/CE. Interacting with a chatbot could allow health professionals to practice their skills in a safe, interactive manner, showcasing an AI use case in medical training automation.
Andy suggests that chatbots could be instructed to simulate patient encounters in a cross between standardized patients, patient simulations, and interactive patient cases, all of which are much harder to re-create in a traditional learning environment.
Another benefit here is the data collected by the chatbots, which could be used to analyze learners’ performance, give personalized feedback, and track progress over time. Access and timely action on this data, facilitated by AI solutions, can eventually lead to better learning outcomes and improved clinical skills. The downside is that there is absolutely no guarantee that the information ChatGPT returns will be in any way accurate, and it might not be supported by relevant — or actual — evidence.
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Limitations of AI in CME/CE
As Andy puts it, “ChatGPT is a toddler. It's only been alive since November.” No matter how useful AI writing tools are in retrieving and arranging data, they lack true intelligence and the context required to create error-free CME/CE content. Instead, they attempt to predict the next word based on your input and any previous output, using natural language processing, which naturally compromises the accuracy and reliability of the information they provide.
And then there are ethical considerations. AI tools are only as insightful as the people who created them, so baked-in biases are inevitable. This makes tools like ChatGPT more likely to reproduce content without considerations for racial and cultural diversity, highlighting the need to automate bias-checking in machine learning algorithms. Medical writers who use these aids still need to monitor any language AI generates for missing nuances.
There are also privacy concerns since all inputted information stays within the ChatGPT system and becomes part of its knowledge base. (I recently wrote about this issue in qualitative outcomes research for the Alliance Almanac.) This opens the doors to potential misuse or dissemination of the generated information without the consent of the people providing the information (see Sarah Silverman’s class action lawsuit against OpenAI for an example). The issues with privacy are doubly concerning in healthcare, where patient privacy is often mandated by law. Only a well-designed large-scale study that investigates the technology's effectiveness and screens for biases in responses can tell if generative AI can be truly helpful in CME/CE.
For now, we have more questions than answers. CME/CE writers should use AI writing tools with caution and always make clients and supervisors aware of any potential conflicts AI-generated content could cause down the road.
Tips for Using Generative AI Responsibly
If you’d like to give ChatGPT or any other AI writing tools a try, keep these tips in mind to use generative AI responsibly.
Provide clear, specific prompts. The more context AI receives, the more accurate and precise its response will be.
Try all the different functions and decide what works. AI tools can help you conduct preliminary research or develop an outline. Try out different tasks to figure out where it can make your life as a writer more efficient and to save time.
Use clear objectives, variables, and tone to receive accurate and meaningful information from tools like ChatGPT. You can work with it to optimize queries for better outcomes with detailed directives.
Learn More About Generative AI Use Cases in Medical Writing with WriteCME Pro
Implementing AI in your content writing process can streamline processes like grant writing and other medical writing, making it an asset to your daily business operations. The key, especially when working with technical information and data analysis, is to use AI to improve the amount of time you spend on tedious tasks and not to become reliant on it to replace your expertise - because it can't. Generative AI doesn't have the nuances of human thought or the level of expertise medical writers do. However, it's important to be open to an AI-driven future. AI has applications across almost every industry. As a business owner and freelancer, the more comfortable you are with AI use, the better.
At WriteCME Pro, we're here to help you on all aspects of your writing journey - from learning new tech to learning how to pitch clients. WriteCME Pro is designed for CME writers by a CME writer who transitioned from academia and clinical care to building a sustainable CME writing business. Discover how WriteCME Pro can help your medical writing journey. Unsure? Schedule a time to talk with Alex, our founder, about what’s next for your career.
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