Affiliation:
1. Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations Moody College of Communication The University of Texas at Austin Austin Texas USA
2. Division of Nephrology Department of Internal Medicine Dell Medical School The University of Texas at Austin Austin Texas USA
Abstract
ABSTRACTBackgroundKidney transplantation is a complex process requiring extensive preparation and ongoing monitoring. Artificial intelligence (AI)‐powered chatbots hold potential for providing accessible health information, but our understanding of their role in offering health advice for kidney transplantation and how individuals assess such advice remains limited. This study investigates how individuals evaluate ChatGPT's responses to kidney transplantation questions in terms of information quality and empathy, focusing on potential differences across race/ethnicity and educational backgrounds.MethodsWe collected Reddit posts (N = 4624) regarding kidney transplantation and selected 86 questions to represent typical clinician inquiries. These questions were used as input prompts for ChatGPT. A total of 565 participants assessed ChatGPT's responses through online surveys, rating information quality and empathy using Likert scales.ResultsMultilevel analyses (N = 2825) show that there is a significant interaction between race/ethnicity and education levels in various measures related to perceived information quality, but not perceived empathy of ChatGPT's responses: accuracy (p < 0.05); authenticity (p < 0.01); believability (p < 0.05); informativeness (p = 0.053); usefulness (p < 0.05); recognizing users’ feelings (p = 0.70) and understanding feelings and situations (p = 0.65). Among non‐White individuals, higher education levels predicted higher perceived quality of ChatGPT's responses across all information quality measures. Notably, this trend was reversed for White individuals, where higher education levels led to lower perceived information quality.ConclusionsOur results highlight the importance of developing AI tools sensitive to diverse communication styles and information needs.