Background: ChatGPT is a natural language processing model developed by OpenAI, which can be iteratively updated and optimized to accommodate the changing and complex requirements of human verbal communication. Objective: The study aimed to evaluate ChatGPT’s accuracy in answering orthopedics-related multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and assess its short-term effects as a learning aid through a randomized controlled trial. In addition, long-term effects on student performance in other subjects were measured using final examination results. Methods: We first evaluated ChatGPT’s accuracy in answering MCQs pertaining to orthopedics across various question formats. Then, 129 undergraduate medical students participated in a randomized controlled study in which the ChatGPT group used ChatGPT as a learning tool, while the control group was prohibited from using artificial intelligence software to support learning. Following a 2-week intervention, the 2 groups’ understanding of orthopedics was assessed by an orthopedics test, and variations in the 2 groups’ performance in other disciplines were noted through a follow-up at the end of the semester. Results: ChatGPT-4.0 answered 1051 orthopedics-related MCQs with a 70.60% (742/1051) accuracy rate, including 71.8% (237/330) accuracy for A1 MCQs, 73.7% (330/448) accuracy for A2 MCQs, 70.2% (92/131) accuracy for A3/4 MCQs, and 58.5% (83/142) accuracy for case analysis MCQs. As of April 7, 2023, a total of 129 individuals participated in the experiment. However, 19 individuals withdrew from the experiment at various phases; thus, as of July 1, 2023, a total of 110 individuals accomplished the trial and completed all follow-up work. After we intervened in the learning style of the students in the short term, the ChatGPT group answered more questions correctly than the control group (ChatGPT group: mean 141.20, SD 26.68; control group: mean 130.80, SD 25.56; P=.04) in the orthopedics test, particularly on A1 (ChatGPT group: mean 46.57, SD 8.52; control group: mean 42.18, SD 9.43; P=.01), A2 (ChatGPT group: mean 60.59, SD 10.58; control group: mean 56.66, SD 9.91; P=.047), and A3/4 MCQs (ChatGPT group: mean 19.57, SD 5.48; control group: mean 16.46, SD 4.58; P=.002). At the end of the semester, we found that the ChatGPT group performed better on final examinations in surgery (ChatGPT group: mean 76.54, SD 9.79; control group: mean 72.54, SD 8.11; P=.02) and obstetrics and gynecology (ChatGPT group: mean 75.98, SD 8.94; control group: mean 72.54, SD 8.66; P=.04) than the control group. Conclusions: ChatGPT answers orthopedics-related MCQs accurately, and students using it excel in both short-term and long-term assessments. Our findings strongly support ChatGPT’s integration into medical education, enhancing contemporary instructional methods. Trial Registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry Chictr2300071774; https://www.chictr.org.cn/hvshowproject.html ?id=225740&v=1.0

Background: The widespread use of artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT (OpenAI), is transforming sectors, including health care, while separate advancements of the internet have enabled platforms such as China’s DingXiangYuan to offer remote medical services. Objective: This study evaluates ChatGPT-4’s responses against those of professional health care providers in telemedicine, assessing artificial intelligence’s capability to support the surge in remote medical consultations and its impact on health care delivery. Methods: We sourced remote orthopedic consultations from “Doctor DingXiang,” with responses from its certified physicians as the control and ChatGPT’s responses as the experimental group. In all, 3 blindfolded, experienced orthopedic surgeons assessed responses against 7 criteria: “logical reasoning,” “internal information,” “external information,” “guiding function,” “therapeutic effect,” “medical knowledge popularization education,” and “overall satisfaction.” We used Fleiss κ to measure agreement among multiple raters. Results: Initially, consultation records for a cumulative count of 8 maladies (equivalent to 800 cases) were gathered. We ultimately included 73 consultation records by May 2023, following primary and rescreening, in which no communication records containing private information, images, or voice messages were transmitted. After statistical scoring, we discovered that ChatGPT’s “internal information” score (mean 4.61, SD 0.52 points vs mean 4.66, SD 0.49 points; P=.43) and “therapeutic effect” score (mean 4.43, SD 0.75 points vs mean 4.55, SD 0.62 points; P=.32) were lower than those of the control group, but the differences were not statistically significant. ChatGPT showed better performance with a higher “logical reasoning” score (mean 4.81, SD 0.36 points vs mean 4.75, SD 0.39 points; P=.38), “external information” score (mean 4.06, SD 0.72 points vs mean 3.92, SD 0.77 points; P=.25), and “guiding function” score (mean 4.73, SD 0.51 points vs mean 4.72, SD 0.54 points; P=.96), although the differences were not statistically significant. Meanwhile, the “medical knowledge popularization education” score of ChatGPT was better than that of the control group (mean 4.49, SD 0.67 points vs mean 3.87, SD 1.01 points; P<.001), and the difference was statistically significant. In terms of “overall satisfaction,” the difference was not statistically significant between the groups (mean 8.35, SD 1.38 points vs mean 8.37, SD 1.24 points; P=.92). According to how Fleiss κ values were interpreted, 6 of the control group’s score points were classified as displaying “fair agreement” (P<.001), and 1 was classified as showing “substantial agreement” (P<.001). In the experimental group, 3 points were classified as indicating “fair agreement,” while 4 suggested “moderate agreement” (P<.001). Conclusions: ChatGPT-4 matches the expertise found in DingXiangYuan forums’ paid consultations, excelling particularly in scientific education. It presents a promising alternative for remote health advice. For health care professionals, it could act as an aid in patient education, while patients may use it as a convenient tool for health inquiries.

BACKGROUND ChatGPT is a natural language processing model developed by OpenAI, which can be iteratively updated and optimized to accommodate the changing and complex requirements of human verbal communication. OBJECTIVE The study aimed to evaluate ChatGPT’s accuracy in answering orthopedics-related multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and assess its short-term effects as a learning aid through a randomized controlled trial. In addition, long-term effects on student performance in other subjects were measured using final examination results. METHODS We first evaluated ChatGPT’s accuracy in answering MCQs pertaining to orthopedics across various question formats. Then, 129 undergraduate medical students participated in a randomized controlled study in which the ChatGPT group used ChatGPT as a learning tool, while the control group was prohibited from using artificial intelligence software to support learning. Following a 2-week intervention, the 2 groups’ understanding of orthopedics was assessed by an orthopedics test, and variations in the 2 groups’ performance in other disciplines were noted through a follow-up at the end of the semester. RESULTS ChatGPT-4.0 answered 1051 orthopedics-related MCQs with a 70.60% (742/1051) accuracy rate, including 71.8% (237/330) accuracy for A1 MCQs, 73.7% (330/448) accuracy for A2 MCQs, 70.2% (92/131) accuracy for A3/4 MCQs, and 58.5% (83/142) accuracy for case analysis MCQs. As of April 7, 2023, a total of 129 individuals participated in the experiment. However, 19 individuals withdrew from the experiment at various phases; thus, as of July 1, 2023, a total of 110 individuals accomplished the trial and completed all follow-up work. After we intervened in the learning style of the students in the short term, the ChatGPT group answered more questions correctly than the control group (ChatGPT group: mean 141.20, SD 26.68; control group: mean 130.80, SD 25.56; P=.04) in the orthopedics test, particularly on A1 (ChatGPT group: mean 46.57, SD 8.52; control group: mean 42.18, SD 9.43; P=.01), A2 (ChatGPT group: mean 60.59, SD 10.58; control group: mean 56.66, SD 9.91; P=.047), and A3/4 MCQs (ChatGPT group: mean 19.57, SD 5.48; control group: mean 16.46, SD 4.58; P=.002). At the end of the semester, we found that the ChatGPT group performed better on final examinations in surgery (ChatGPT group: mean 76.54, SD 9.79; control group: mean 72.54, SD 8.11; P=.02) and obstetrics and gynecology (ChatGPT group: mean 75.98, SD 8.94; control group: mean 72.54, SD 8.66; P=.04) than the control group. CONCLUSIONS ChatGPT answers orthopedics-related MCQs accurately, and students using it excel in both short-term and long-term assessments. Our findings strongly support ChatGPT’s integration into medical education, enhancing contemporary instructional methods. CLINICALTRIAL Chinese Clinical Trial Registry Chictr2300071774; https://www.chictr.org.cn/hvshowproject.html ?id=225740&v=1.0

BACKGROUND The widespread use of artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT (OpenAI), is transforming sectors, including health care, while separate advancements of the internet have enabled platforms such as China’s DingXiangYuan to offer remote medical services. OBJECTIVE This study evaluates ChatGPT-4’s responses against those of professional health care providers in telemedicine, assessing artificial intelligence’s capability to support the surge in remote medical consultations and its impact on health care delivery. METHODS We sourced remote orthopedic consultations from “Doctor DingXiang,” with responses from its certified physicians as the control and ChatGPT’s responses as the experimental group. In all, 3 blindfolded, experienced orthopedic surgeons assessed responses against 7 criteria: “logical reasoning,” “internal information,” “external information,” “guiding function,” “therapeutic effect,” “medical knowledge popularization education,” and “overall satisfaction.” We used Fleiss κ to measure agreement among multiple raters. RESULTS Initially, consultation records for a cumulative count of 8 maladies (equivalent to 800 cases) were gathered. We ultimately included 73 consultation records by May 2023, following primary and rescreening, in which no communication records containing private information, images, or voice messages were transmitted. After statistical scoring, we discovered that ChatGPT’s “internal information” score (mean 4.61, SD 0.52 points vs mean 4.66, SD 0.49 points; P=.43) and “therapeutic effect” score (mean 4.43, SD 0.75 points vs mean 4.55, SD 0.62 points; P=.32) were lower than those of the control group, but the differences were not statistically significant. ChatGPT showed better performance with a higher “logical reasoning” score (mean 4.81, SD 0.36 points vs mean 4.75, SD 0.39 points; P=.38), “external information” score (mean 4.06, SD 0.72 points vs mean 3.92, SD 0.77 points; P=.25), and “guiding function” score (mean 4.73, SD 0.51 points vs mean 4.72, SD 0.54 points; P=.96), although the differences were not statistically significant. Meanwhile, the “medical knowledge popularization education” score of ChatGPT was better than that of the control group (mean 4.49, SD 0.67 points vs mean 3.87, SD 1.01 points; P<.001), and the difference was statistically significant. In terms of “overall satisfaction,” the difference was not statistically significant between the groups (mean 8.35, SD 1.38 points vs mean 8.37, SD 1.24 points; P=.92). According to how Fleiss κ values were interpreted, 6 of the control group’s score points were classified as displaying “fair agreement” (P<.001), and 1 was classified as showing “substantial agreement” (P<.001). In the experimental group, 3 points were classified as indicating “fair agreement,” while 4 suggested “moderate agreement” (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS ChatGPT-4 matches the expertise found in DingXiangYuan forums’ paid consultations, excelling particularly in scientific education. It presents a promising alternative for remote health advice. For health care professionals, it could act as an aid in patient education, while patients may use it as a convenient tool for health inquiries.