The Eve Appeal launches campaign to raise awareness of gynae cancers
PIF member The Eve Appeal is running its Get Lippy campaign this month to raise awareness of gynaecological cancers. This year the charity is focusing on mis- and disinformation, and has worked closely with the PIF team to share tips on how to identify false information.
Misinformation and disinformation are a growing problem. Easier access than ever to information through the internet and social media means there is a growing number of unqualified people sharing potentially inaccurate health information online. Scams target people’s anxieties and worries about their health, and businesses are trying to harness disinformation to sell unnecessary and even harmful products.
'Chat to your GP, not ChatGPT'
The Eve Appeal wanted to see how AI platforms like ChatGPT coped with filtering out misinformation. The team put it to the test to see how much it could be trusted to give information on gynaecological health. They ran 25 test scenarios with ChatGPT, where staff posed as patients with key symptoms of the five gynae cancers.
The results highlighted serious concerns, with ChatGPT missing gynaecological cancers as potential causes of leading symptoms, giving inaccurate or outdated information and giving inappropriate medical advice.
ChatGPT did not pick up ovarian cancer as a possible cause of persistent bloating for more than three weeks – one of the leading symptoms. The Eve Appeal team also found the information it gave was often not relevant to the UK’s health system, or not in line with NHS guidance. In other scenarios, ChatGPT inappropriately gave advice that should only be issued by a registered medical professional.
"ChatGPT wants to please the person using it, and it can give false reassurance. And if you’re on the receiving end, you might ignore the symptoms you were having instead of telling your GP.
"We need to remind people that AI cannot accurately diagnose you and it does make mistakes," said Dr Liz O’Riordan, an ambassador for the campaign.
More people turning to chatbots for advice
The charity says the results are particularly concerning as more and more people are turning to ChatGPT and other platforms like it for health information and advice. It surveyed over 2,000 women in the UK and found that AI platforms have overtaken social media as places women go to with their gynae health questions and concerns.
Nearly 1 in 10 women who had experienced gynaecological health issues had sought information and advice from AI platforms like ChatGPT. Less than 3 in 10 said it left them feeling encouraged to see a doctor.
Read more about the Get Lippy campaign and concerns about ChatGPT on The Eve Appeal website.
View the Get Lippy toolkit to help you understand false health information, based on PIF resources.
See Get Lippy and PIF TICK ambassador Dr Aziza Sesay speaking about the campaign on BBC Breakfast via The Eve Appeal's Instagram channel here.