Exploring the Value and Risks of Artificial Intelligence ChatGPT in Infectious Disease Management and Public Health: Regulatory Perspectives and Qualitative Insights

Background: The goal of this work is to perform a thematic analysis of the advantages and disadvantages towards employing ChatGPT in different subfields of Infectious Disease (ID) and public health. Currently, the research adopts a qualitative research approach. The interview guide was developed using a structured literature review having semi-structured interview questions. Twenty-five epidemiologists participated this study, which were selected purposively through convenience sampling technique. The interviews conducted were audio taped, transcribed and verbatim and the data was analyzed using thematic analysis to establish themes in the data. Hence, analysing the positives of using the AI ChatGPT: Eight themes and 28 were codes deduced at the end of the first part of the thematic analysis. The risks of using AI ChatGPT in this field were identified and they were grouped into ten themes and thirty codes. Some of the advantages of AI ChatGPT are well seen in these areas taking into consideration specific health recommendations, the contribution towards clinical decision-making processes, and in the process of vigilance in outbreaks. However, the potential risks include the creation of fake news, privacy violation, and dependency of the AI system are some of the concerns that should be critically followed in the implementation. Future studies should target the improvement of the data acquisition of ChatGPT in real-time, the extension of its medical content in novel diseases and the use of context-aware suggestions.