Integrating large language models into medical ethics education

Perhaps no profession has stricter ethical standards than medicine, and ethics is considered essential in the education of any respected medical school. A new essay by researchers at Hiroshima University (Japan) provides a framework for how Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT can be incorporated into ethics education for medical programs. The essay, which can be read in BMC Medical Education, argues that the adoption of LLMs into medical curricula can significantly contribute to the acquisition of moral knowledge and the cultivation of virtue, two main aspects of medical ethics.

LLMs have disrupted almost every industry including the medical industry. Every day, professional healthcare workers and even patients are relying on LLM tools to advise on diagnosis and treatment plans. One reason for the quick adoption is that they work, as LLMs are showing remarkable capabilities in diagnosing a medical condition from patient data.

While the importance of ethics is established in medicine, its education competes with other elements of a curriculum, and much like how the arts and physical education have been victims in public school systems, ethics takes a backseat to the time and resources dedicated to the teaching of basic medical knowledge and clinical skills. By acting as virtual teachers, LLMs, explain Sawai and his colleagues, can reduce the load on educators. Indeed, there is already evidence that LLMs show an impressive understanding of empathy that prepares students for the varied clinical situations they should anticipate in their careers.

"Medical ethics education does not receive the same educational resources as other medical education and needs innovative solutions. We believe that LLMs are already in a position to supplement the instruction of medical ethics," said Hiroshima University Professor Tsutomu Sawai, one of the authors of the essay. He added that LLMs are a capable resource for teaching basic ethics principles and exposing students to scenarios that mimic real-life clinical situations.

However, the authors state explicitly that LLMs are far from replacing human instructors. Moreover, while LLMs may be suitable for the classroom, they are still not to be deployed in actual medical settings. The critical thinking required for a decision in the clinic demands diverse moral perspectives, and LLMs need more training in this regard. Ironically, training data for this purpose could come from the education settings proposed by the essay.

LLMs have made remarkable progress in such a short time, and we feel they are ready to be used in by students. But it is still too early to use them as definitive sources for medical ethics education."

Tsutomu Sawai, Professor, Hiroshima University

Tsutomu Sawai is a professor (special recognition) in the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Hiroshima University. Sawai is also affiliated with the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology (ASHBi) at Kyoto University.