Large Language Models in Hematology Case Solving: A Comparative Study of ChatGPT-3.5, Google Bard, and Microsoft Bing

Background Large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT-3.5, Google Bard, and Microsoft Bing, have shown promising capabilities in various natural language processing (NLP) tasks. However, their performance and accuracy in solving domain-specific questions, particularly in the field of hematology, have not been extensively investigated. Objective This study aimed to explore the capability of LLMs, namely, ChatGPT-3.5, Google Bard, and Microsoft Bing (Precise), in solving hematology-related cases and comparing their performance. Methods This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the Department of Physiology and Pathology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Deoghar, Jharkhand, India. We curated a set of 50 cases on hematology covering a range of topics and complexities. The dataset included queries related to blood disorders, hematologic malignancies, laboratory test parameters, calculations, and treatment options. Each case and related question was prepared with a set of correct answers to compare with. We utilized ChatGPT-3.5, Google Bard Experiment, and Microsoft Bing (Precise) for question-answering tasks. The answers were checked by two physiologists and one pathologist. They rated the answers on a rating scale from one to five. The average score of the three models was compared by Friedman's test with Dunn's post-hoc test. The performance of the LLMs was compared with a median of 2.5 by a one-sample median test as the curriculum from which the questions were curated has a 50% pass grade. Results The scores among the three LLMs were significantly different (p-value < 0.0001) with the highest score by ChatGPT (3.15±1.19), followed by Bard (2.23±1.17) and Bing (1.98±1.01). The score of ChatGPT was significantly higher than 50% (p-value = 0.0004), Bard's score was close to 50% (p-value = 0.38), and Bing's score was significantly lower than the pass score (p-value = 0.0015). Conclusion The LLMs reveal significant differences in solving case vignettes in hematology. ChatGPT exhibited the highest score, followed by Google Bard and Microsoft Bing. The observed performance trends suggest that ChatGPT holds promising potential in the medical domain. However, none of the models was capable of answering all questions accurately. Further research and optimization of language models can offer valuable contributions to healthcare and medical education applications.