This paper is in the following e-collection/theme issue:

Letters to the Editor (23) Generative Language Models Including ChatGPT (463) Chatbots and Conversational Agents (614) Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Medical Education (118) Theme Issue: ChatGPT and Generative Language Models in Medical Education (98) Language Translation Technologies for Medicine and Public Health (19)

Published on in Vol 11 (2025)

Preprints (earlier versions) of this paper are available at https://preprints.jmir.org/preprint/71721, first published .
Authors’ Reply: Enhancing AI-Driven Medical Translations: Considerations for Language Concordance

Authors’ Reply: Enhancing AI-Driven Medical Translations: Considerations for Language Concordance

Authors’ Reply: Enhancing AI-Driven Medical Translations: Considerations for Language Concordance

Authors of this article:

Joyce Teng1 Author Orcid Image ;   Roberto Andres Novoa1, 2 Author Orcid Image ;   Maria Alexandrovna Aleshin1 Author Orcid Image ;   Jenna Lester3 Author Orcid Image ;   Kira Seiger4 Author Orcid Image ;   Fiatsogbe Dzuali3 Author Orcid Image ;   Roxana Daneshjou1, 5 Author Orcid Image
Article Authors Cited by Tweetations Metrics

1Department of Dermatology, Stanford University, 700 Welch Rd, Stanford, United States

2Department of Pathology, Stanford University, Redwood City, CA, United States

3Department of Dermatology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States

4Department of Dermatology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States

5Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

*these authors contributed equally

Corresponding Author:

Joyce Teng, MD, PhD



We appreciate the thoughtful insights shared by Quon and Zhou [Quon S, Zhou S. Enhancing AI-driven medical translations: considerations for language concordance. JMIR Med Educ. 2025;11. [CrossRef]1] regarding our study on the application of ChatGPT in translating patient education materials [Dzuali F, Seiger K, Novoa R, et al. ChatGPT may improve access to language-concordant care for patients with non-English language preferences. JMIR Med Educ. Dec 10, 2024;10:e51435. [CrossRef] [Medline]2]. We wholly agree that the linguistically distinct languages, such as Mandarin, can present challenges in capturing all the nuances and achieving precise translations.

In response to the comment regarding the use of multiple prompts, we acknowledge the complexity and variability in artificial intelligence (AI)-generated translations. However, it is important to consider the practical limitations within a clinical setting. Asking providers to use various prompts in real time may not be feasible due to time constraints and the need for efficiency in patient care. We believe that focusing on a single, effective prompt can streamline the translation process while we explore avenues for improvement in the AI’s capabilities. This could be a productive avenue for future research.

Addressing the concern regarding the reliance on board-certified dermatologists for post-translation review, we want to clarify that, in addition to being board-certified dermatologists, all reviewers were native speakers in the language they reviewed, including fluency in Mandarin at a college level. This proficiency allows for a confluence of both clinical and linguistic insights when evaluating translations, reinforcing the validity of our findings. We appreciate the importance of rigor in translation review and remain committed to enhancing the integrity of our translated materials.

Overall, while we recognize the areas where ChatGPT can improve, we also see its current utility as a valuable tool for expanding access to language-concordant care in clinical settings. Our study serves as a helpful step toward identifying and addressing the limitations of AI translations, and we welcome continued dialogue to refine these practices.

Conflicts of Interest

None declared.

  1. Quon S, Zhou S. Enhancing AI-driven medical translations: considerations for language concordance. JMIR Med Educ. 2025;11. [CrossRef]
  2. Dzuali F, Seiger K, Novoa R, et al. ChatGPT may improve access to language-concordant care for patients with non-English language preferences. JMIR Med Educ. Dec 10, 2024;10:e51435. [CrossRef] [Medline]

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AI: artificial intelligence

Edited by Tiffany Leung; This is a non–peer-reviewed article. submitted 24.01.25; accepted 27.01.25; published 11.04.25.

Copyright

© Joyce Teng, Roberto Andres Novoa, Maria Alexandrovna Aleshin, Jenna Lester, Kira Seiger, Fiatsogbe Dzuali, Roxana Daneshjou. Originally published in JMIR Medical Education (https://mededu.jmir.org), 11.4.2025.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Medical Education, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://mededu.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.