A survey of Large Language Model use in a hospital, research, and teaching campus

Abstract

Background: The use of Large Language Models (LLMs) has exploded since November 2022 but there is sparse evidence regarding LLM use in health, medical and research contexts. Objective: To summarise the current uses of and attitudes towards LLMs across the clinical, research and teaching contexts in our campus. Design: We administered a survey about LLM uses and attitudes. We conducted summary quantitative analysis and inductive qualitative analysis of free text responses. Setting: In August-September 2023, we circulated the survey amongst all staff and students across our campus (approximately n=7500), a fully integrated paediatric academic hospital and research institute. Participants: We received 281 anonymous survey responses. Main outcome measures: We asked about participants' knowledge of LLMs, their current use of LLMs in professional or learning contexts, and perspectives on possible future uses, opportunities, and risks of LLM use. Results: Over 90% of respondents have heard of LLM tools and about two-thirds have used them in their work on our campus. Respondents reported using LLMs for a range of uses, including for generating or editing text and exploring ideas. Many, but not necessarily all, respondents seem aware of the limitations and potential risks of LLMs, including privacy and security risks. Various respondents expressed enthusiasm about opportunities of LLM use, including increased efficiency. Conclusions: Our findings show LLM tools are already widely used on our campus. Guidelines and governance are needed to keep up with practice. We have developed recommendations for the use of LLMs on our campus using insights from this survey.