Presented By: Catherine Pepper, Texas A&M University School of Medicine
Co-Authors: Sheila Green, Texas A&M University, Medical Sciences Library
Steven Maxwell, Texas A&M University School of Medicine

Purpose 
Generative Artificial Intelligence (gAI) in the form of ChatGPT became freely and publicly available on 11/30/2022, swiftly influencing teaching practices. Medical educators and librarians are devising strategies to address ensuing instructional challenges. Research and anecdotal evidence suggest that students utilize ChatGPT for assignment assistance, blurring the lines between original work and content generated by Large Language Models (LLMs). We present our strategy for incorporating gAI into teaching PubMed literature searching with the aims of exposing students to the process of searching strategy construction and then allowing them to explore how gAI might enhance or hinder that process.

Methods 
First-year medical students in the Medical Student Grand Rounds (MSGR) course at {redacted} School of Medicine complete a graded exercise: searching PubMed for a basic sciences topic, following a librarian-led lecture on the use of MeSH terms, subheadings, filters, and keywords. The exercise was modified for Spring 2024 to include additional instructions for gAI searches, directing students to use the LLM of their choice to generate search terms for the same topic, to critique the LLM response, and to share their experience in a course discussion board. Grading and feedback centered on the students' good-faith efforts to perform the search process and critically evaluate the LLM tool.

Results 
This study will be conducted Spring 2024. A sample of student-created and gAI search strategies and their results will be compared to evaluate appropriateness of search terms and Boolean combinations, differences between retrieved article sets, and relevance of resulting articles to the topic. Student perceptions will be extracted from the discussions.

Conclusion 
Integrating gAI into assignments may serve to mitigate its use in submissions implied to be students' own work. However, LLM technology may serve as a valuable teaching tool that encourages students to exercise critical thinking skills in determining its place in practice. Generative AI may or may not produce effective literature searches.