Q&A: Knowledge is Key for Adapting AI within Pharmacy Practice
Don Roosan, PharmD, PhD, joined Drug Topics to explore the future of ChatGPT in pharmacy practice and how AI is being used to manage patients’ medication regimens.
When it comes to the proper use of artificial intelligence (AI), the knowledge of how to use large-language models like ChatGPT is key to ensuring improved patient outcomes and overall pharmacy efficiency.
“I believe it's only the beginning. We are not even at the sunrise. AI is going to completely transform how we do businesses, how we do our work,” said Don Roosan, PharmD, PhD. “My long-term hope is that pharmacists need to learn and should use large-language models, understand the biases, and take the most informed decisions for their patients.”
"There is a lot of fear, and I think the best way to overcome fear is to know," said Roosan. "That's why I said knowledge is power." | image credit: CreativeIMGIdeas / stock.adobe.com
According to Roosan, who is a professor of data science and expert in adapting AI in pharmacy practice, AI like ChatGPT is just getting started despite growing concerns of how it will impact society. He says that any new technology will present societal concerns at first, but if patients and pharmacists are able to gain knowledge of the opportunities AI presented, a positive change can certainly be made.
READ MORE: The Endless Opportunities ChatGPT Creates for Pharmacists
Drug Topics: How do you think patients will react when they find out that their prescription regimens are being managed by AI?
Don Roosan: I'll start by saying that knowledge is power. Basically, we as pharmacists and doctors had been using AI to provide patient information. For example, some of the databases we used already use advanced AI algorithms—not as advanced as a large-language model like ChatGPT or Gemini—but we had been using it. Patients are not just aware of it. Now, with the advent of ChatGPT and large-language models such as Gemini, patients are just not aware that this is something that doctors and clinicians are constantly using or not. There is a lot of fear, and I think the best way to overcome fear is to know. That's why I said knowledge is power.
I ended up writing a book about AI and how it can help patients, and not only patients, but people who do not have a lot of technical background, to learn about utilizing all these large-language models. [It was written] to advance their lives wherever they are, either in their career, either to get the medication knowledge, or to make very complex decisions. It's called “humAIn,” and people can get it from Amazon, Google Play. I think that can help people to understand how they can manage their health information, as well as, if they're getting the health information from their doctors and pharmacists, how they can utilize that information by feeding those in ChatGPT.
Drug Topics: What are your long-term hopes for the role of ChatGPT in pharmacy practice and do you believe that other pharmacists within the practice share these sentiments?
Don Roosan: I believe it's only the beginning. We are not even at the sunrise. AI is going to completely transform how we do businesses, how we do our work. For example, this transcript, you can utilize AI, and it can completely make the written piece that you ended up doing for like 5 hours; it will take you like 3 minutes now. The point is that people will always find the shortest path to do the work in the most efficient way. I think that this is just the beginning, and people who use AI will realize that it actually empowers them. That's something I also show in my book is how you can utilize this information that can empower you and how you can learn more about AI to be the best version of themselves.
My long-term hope is that pharmacists need to use and learn and should use large-language models, understand the biases, and take the most informed decisions for their patients. They can only do that when they are knowledgeable and they understand how AI works. That's something I believe that everybody should know. This is not a complex thing. It's not like you have to go and do a course. You can just learn about AI, and that's something I have explained in my book. That's something I feel that people should understand, read, be knowledgeable, and then be the best version of themselves.
Obviously, whenever there's a new technology, there will be people who will not be ready to accept it or adapt. But as we evolve and we learn more about the efficiency it can get to us, I believe that people will end up using it. I remember when Google first came. Not a lot of people would be Googling, right? But with AI now, there's a lot of fear, misconception. I think all these things can be gone with the specific knowledge and the empowerment. In the media, there is a lot of negative (notions) about AI is going to replace you, and all these negative thoughts, which I think is not absolutely accurate. AI will replace a lot of jobs, but it will create a lot of jobs as well. But that's something I have also mentioned in my book, how people can overcome this fear and then accept AI and be the best version of themselves.
READ MORE: Technology and Data Resource Center
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