Volume 55, Issue 7 pp. 1198-1202
Viewpoint

Large language models for infectious diseases require evidence generation and regulation

Christina Gao

Christina Gao

Adelaide Medical School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

These authors are co-first authors and contributed equally to this study.

Search for more papers by this author
Shirajh Satheakeerthy

Shirajh Satheakeerthy

Adelaide Medical School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Lyell McEwin Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

These authors are co-first authors and contributed equally to this study.

Search for more papers by this author
Christina Guo

Christina Guo

Department of Infectious Diseases, The Alfred, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Search for more papers by this author
Alyssa Pradhan

Alyssa Pradhan

Lyell McEwin Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Search for more papers by this author
Andrew E. C. Booth

Andrew E. C. Booth

Lyell McEwin Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Search for more papers by this author
Weng Onn Chan

Weng Onn Chan

Lyell McEwin Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Search for more papers by this author
Sanjat Kanjilal

Sanjat Kanjilal

Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Search for more papers by this author
Matthew Blake Roberts

Matthew Blake Roberts

Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Search for more papers by this author
Camille Kotton

Camille Kotton

Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Search for more papers by this author
Stephen Bacchi

Corresponding Author

Stephen Bacchi

Adelaide Medical School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Lyell McEwin Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Correspondence

Stephen Bacchi, Neurology Department, Lyell McEwin Hospital, Haydown Road, Elizabeth Vale, SA 5112, Australia.

Email: [email protected]

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 27 May 2025

Funding: S. Bacchi and C. Guo are supported by Fulbright Scholarships.

Conflict of interest: None.

Abstract

Large language models (LLMs) offer significant potential in healthcare, especially in the Australian infectious diseases (ID) context, where a great deal of information must be gathered and synthesised. To maximise benefits, the use of evidence-based medicine principles, robust trials, thorough regulatory frameworks and timely guidelines statements are necessary. Additionally, proactive strategies utilising artificial intelligence architectures such as retrieval-augmented generation can help minimise risks, while optimising the benefits of LLM in ID.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.