A research team from Thomas Jefferson University wondered if artificial intelligence (AI) bots might be able to close this gap in supportive care. In a new paper, they tested two widely available large language models (LLMs) – ChatGPT and Gemini – with a variety of prompts to generate meal plans and grocery lists for specific patient characteristics such as cancer stage and other health conditions, as well as budgets, geographic location and cultural preferences.
The goal, says senior author and radiation oncologist at Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Centre Nicole Simone, MD, was to evaluate the LLMs capacity to address these varied needs, and compare the generated advice to that of clinical dietitians.
“The ability of LLMs to generate meal plans tailored to socioeconomic and cultural considerations is one of the most promising aspects of this approach,” the authors write. That means the tool can be helpful for people with financial constraints and promotes adherence by integrating ethnic food choices.
This study demonstrated the feasibility of creating an AI tool to generate and support dietary advice tailored to cancer patients. Although, there is more work to be done, such as identifying the limits of an AI tool’s reliability and when oversight by professional dietitians is needed.
