Abstract:

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has gained significant traction across various domains, notably in information and knowledge management within healthcare applications, including the study of Pharmacology, which in particular has witnessed the increasing utility of AI approaches in analysing information from various sources. These encompass a broad spectrum, ranging from the chemical structure and attributes of a drug to the clinical characteristics of patients. AI demonstrates diverse applications especially in pharmacological research, spanning target identification, drug repurposing, virtual screening, de novo drug design, toxicity prediction, and post-marketing surveillance (including adverse effects and drug interactions). These applications contribute to heightened safety and efficacy outcomes.

The rise of artificial intelligence is evident in the volume of published articles. A PubMed search for "artificial intelligence" AND "pharmacology" conducted a decade ago (2013) yielded 52 articles, while in 2023, the count has soared to 520.

Our objective has been to familiarize third-year students at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Complutense University of Madrid, enrolled in the Pharmacology and Pharmacy course, with AI. We aimed to present a series of proposals that would encourage the incorporation of AI into their learning processes. Pilot activities involving AI were introduced on a voluntary basis to students in selected sections of the Pharmacology and Pharmacy syllabus.

This proposal encompassed resolving pharmacological scenarios through the utilization of ChatGPT®, a form of generative and conversational AI. ChatGPT amalgamates online information and presents it in diverse formats in response to specific and formulated queries. Students were tasked with contrasting the information provided by the chat with that derived from conventional bibliographic tools (such as manuals and scientific publications, etc.). Consequently, students had to respond to a set of questions reinforcing theoretical concepts covered during Pharmacology and Pharmacy lectures. An AI system, based on rules, functioned as an e-Mentoring tool, providing feedback or guidance to students during the simulation in the scenarios.

The satisfaction level regarding the use of AI was evaluated through Google Forms and the assessment consisted of two main questions:
1. To what extent did you find the Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool useful for retrieving information on basic pharmacology concepts?
2. How challenging was the application of AI?

Overall, the introduction of AI was well received. Students who had prior familiarity with such tools found it manageable. Approximately 80% of the responses indicated satisfaction with the information retrieval and self-learning facilitated by AI in Pharmacology. However, around 10% of students were unfamiliar with these tools; consequently, there was less enthusiasm among this group.

References:
[1] Nisar, S., & Aslam, M. S. (2023). Is ChatGPT a Good Tool for T&CM Students in Studying Pharmacology?. Available at SSRN 4324310.
[2] Ryan, D. K., Maclean, R. H., Balston, A., Scourfield, A., Shah, A. D., & Ross, J. (2023). AI and machine learning for clinical pharmacology. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

Keywords:

Artificial Intelligence, Pharmacology, teaching-learning.