ChatGPT and the Medical Industry: A Topic Modeling of Online Discussions by Medical Professionals

ChatGPT has attracted much attention from industries, such as the medical industry, since its release in late 2022. Being an innovative artificial intelligence (AI) technology that has the potential to reshape the medical industry, ChatGPT has naturally become a hot topic in online communities for medical professionals. Promising opportunities of ChatGPT in transforming various aspects of the medical domain has also come with significant challenges that medical professionals must face and overcome. To understand how ChatGPT has impacted the medical industry as well as issues that have occurred during the adoption and use of the AI tool, this research contributes a systematic topic modeling of ChatGPT-related online discussions by medical professionals. Based on a dataset of 146 posts and 838 comments submitted to a set of online medical professional communities hosted on Reddit, this research identifies 10 important discussion topics. Implications and opportunities for research and practice in both medical and AI fields are highlighted.