Artificial intelligence in occupational therapy: Comparing ChatGPT and occupational therapist approaches in assessment and intervention

Abstract

Introduction:

Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in supporting rehabilitation processes, offering benefits for both clients and therapists. This study aimed to explore the potential use of ChatGPT—an AI-powered online chatbot—in occupational therapy using clinical case scenarios and to compare the clinical decision-making approaches of ChatGPT and occupational therapists.

Method:

This study employed a comparative design to evaluate the clinical decision-making skills of ChatGPT and occupational therapists. A total of 111 occupational therapists and ChatGPT responded to 9 questions related to 3 different cases, including items on models and frames of reference, assessment, and intervention.

Results:

ChatGPT and occupational therapists demonstrated similar decision-making in one case for models and frames of reference, one case for assessments, and one case for interventions (p > 0.05). However, their decision-making differed in the other two cases (p < 0.05).

Conclusion:

These findings underscore artificial intelligence’s promising yet complex role in occupational therapy, highlighting how occupational therapists integrate multiple factors and individual client needs into their decision-making, in contrast to the algorithm-based reasoning of ChatGPT.