Generative artificial intelligence and large language models in smart healthcare applications: Current status and...

With climate change, habitat destruction, and increased population ages, the incidence of both communicable and non-communicable diseases is rising, and managing these has become a growing concern. In recent years, generative artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) have ushered in a transformative era for smart healthcare applications. These models, built on advanced ML architectures like Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT) and Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT), have demonstrated significant capabilities in various medical tasks. This review aims to provide an overview of the potential benefits of generative AI and LLMs in smart healthcare applications, as well as challenges and ethical considerations. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify relevant research papers published in peer-reviewed journals. Databases such as PubMed, PMC, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, and Web of Science were searched using keywords related to generative AI, LLMs, and healthcare applications. The relevant papers were analyzed to extract key findings and contributions. Generative AI and LLMs are powerful tools that can process and analyze massive amounts of data. Researchers are actively exploring their potential to transform healthcare-powering intelligent virtual health assistants, crafting personalized patient care plans, and facilitating early detection and intervention for medical conditions. With ongoing research and development, the future of generative AI and LLMs in healthcare is promising; however, issues such as bias in AI models, lack of explainability, ethical concerns, and integration difficulties must be addressed.