The artificial intelligence algorithms behind the chatbot program ChatGPT — which has drawn attention for its ability to generate humanlike written responses to some of the most creative queries — might one day be able to help doctors detect Alzheimer’s Disease in its early stages. Research from Drexel University’s School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems recently demonstrated that OpenAI’s GPT-3 program can identify clues from spontaneous speech that are 80% accurate in predicting the early stages of dementia.
Reported in the journal PLOS Digital Health, the Drexel study is the latest in a series of efforts to show the effectiveness of natural language processing programs for early prediction of Alzheimer’s — leveraging current research suggesting that language impairment can be an early indicator of neurodegenerative disorders.
Finding an Early Sign
The current practice for diagnosing Alzheimer’s Disease typically involves a medical history review and lengthy set of physical and neurological evaluations and tests. While there is still no cure for the disease, spotting it early can give patients more options for therapeutics and support. Because language impairment is a symptom in 60-80% of dementia patients, researchers have been focusing on programs that can pick up on subtle clues — such as hesitation, making grammar and pronunciation mistakes and forgetting the meaning of words — as a quick test that could indicate whether or not a patient should undergo a full examination.
“We know from ongoing research that the cognitive effects of Alzheimer
