New AI ‘cancer chatbot’ provides patients and families with 24/7 support: ‘Empathetic approach’

Cancer patients looking for quick answers or support between their appointments can now turn to “Dave,” an artificial intelligence chatbot trained to discuss all things related to oncology. Dave is a large language model (LLM) that is similar to ChatGPT. Yet instead of being trained on more general data, it focuses only on cancer-related topics. Dave was trained on “billions of data points” from seven years’ worth of interactions between patients and physicians. “The engine operates by harnessing the power of two LLMs, one sourced from OpenAI and another open-source engine, which synergistically complement each other.”More than 10,000 people with cancer to date have tested the AI cancer chatbot .Patients are made aware that –“despite Dave’s human-like language” — they are engaging with an AI system and not a human being.“Every message from Dave includes a prominent visual disclaimer indicating that it is an AI-generated response, which may not always be accurate, and that patients should always consult their physicians before making decisions.”