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Search Engines and Generative Artificial Intelligence Integration: Public Health Risks and Recommendations to
Amir Reza Ashraf1, Tim Ken Mackey2,3,4, András Fittler1
1Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
|March 21, 2024
Summary
Generative AI search results inadvertently recommend illegal online pharmacies, posing public health risks. Stricter oversight is needed to guide users to legitimate sources and exclude illicit vendors.
Area of Science:
- Digital Health
- Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
- Public Health
Background:
- The online pharmacy market is expanding, presenting convenience and accessibility benefits.
- Illicit online pharmacies exploit search engine algorithms, risking public health by distributing substandard medicines.
- Generative AI integration in search engines may inadvertently amplify risks by directing users to illegal vendors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the role of generative AI in search engine results for online pharmacies.
- To identify and characterize illegal online pharmacy recommendations within AI-generated search results.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of AI-generated recommendations from Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) and Microsoft Bing Chat.
- Evaluation of recommendations for popular medicines across various therapeutic categories, including controlled substances.
- Legitimacy assessment of recommended websites, cross-referenced with authoritative databases like the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy and LegitScript.
Main Results:
- Approximately 47% of recommended websites were active online pharmacies, with 31% being legitimate.
- Bing Chat directed users to illegal vendors for prescription medications more frequently (24%) than Google SGE (6%).
- Google SGE recommendations led to a higher proportion of illegal controlled substance vendors (27%) compared to Bing Chat (7%).
Conclusions:
- Generative AI integration in search engines presents significant risks of promoting illegal online pharmacies.
- A notable percentage of AI-generated recommendations led to illicit vendors, potentially increasing traffic and public health risks.
- Urgent implementation of rigorous oversight and safeguards is necessary to ensure AI search directs users to verified pharmacies and excludes illegal vendors.
Keywords:
BingGoogleartificial intelligencecomparative assessmentconsumerconsumerscontrolled substancecontrolled substancescustomercustomersdrugdrugsgenerativegenerative artificial intelligenceillegalinformation seekingmedicationmedicationsonline pharmaciespatient safetypharmaceuticpharmaceuticalpharmaceuticalspharmaceuticspharmaciespharmacyrecommendationrecommendationsretrievalriskriskssafetysearchsearch enginesearch enginessearchessearchingsubstance abusesubstance usevendorvendorswebsitewebsites
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