Evaluating the validity and consistency of artificial intelligence chatbots in responding to patients' frequently asked questions in prosthodontics.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Healthcare-related information provided by artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots may pose challenges such as inaccuracies, lack of empathy, biases, over-reliance, limited scope, and ethical concerns. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the validity and consistency of responses to prosthodontics-related frequently asked questions (FAQ) generated by 4 different chatbot systems. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Four prosthodontics domains were evaluated: implant, fixed prosthodontics, complete denture (CD), and removable partial denture (RPD). Within each domain, 10 questions were prepared by full-time prosthodontic faculty members, and 10 questions were generated by GPT-3.5, representing its top frequently asked questions in each domain. The validity and consistency of responses provided by 4 chatbots: GPT-3.5, GPT-4, Gemini, and Bing were evaluated. The chi-squared test with the Yates correction was used to compare the validity of responses between different chatbots (alpha=.05). The Cronbach alpha was calculated for 3 sets of responses collected in the morning, afternoon, and evening to evaluate the consistency of the responses. RESULTS: According to the low threshold validity test, the chatbots' answers to ChatGPT's implant-related, ChatGPT's RPD-related, and prosthodontists' CD-related FAQs were statistically different (P<.001, P<.001, and P=.004, respectively), with Bing being the lowest. At the high threshold validity test, the chatbots' answers to ChatGPT's implant-related and RPD-related FAQs and ChatGPT's and prosthodontists' fixed prosthetics-related and CD-related FAQs were statistically different (P<.001, P<.001, P=.004, P=.002, and P=.003, respectively), with Bing being the lowest. Overall, all 4 chatbots demonstrated lower validity at the high threshold than the low threshold. Bing, Gemini, and ChatGPT-4 chatbots displayed an acceptable level of consistency, while ChatGPT-3.5 did not. CONCLUSIONS: Currently, AI chatbots show limitations in delivering answers to patients' prosthodontic-related FAQs with high validity and consistency.