Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered chatbots are increasingly utilized in academic medical settings for tasks such as evidence synthesis and manuscript drafting. This study evaluates the ability of ChatGPT, an AI-powered tool, to simplify cardiology research abstracts for non-medical audiences while retaining essential information. A total of 113 abstracts from Circulation were processed by ChatGPT to be rewritten at a 5th-grade reading level. Readability was assessed using word and character counts, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), and Reading Ease (FKRE) scores, while a panel of five physicians and five laypeople evaluated the simplified texts for accuracy, completeness, and readability. The simplification significantly reduced word and character counts (p<0.0001) and improved readability from a college graduate level to an 8th-9th grade level (p<0.001). Both physicians and laypeople found the simplified abstracts easier to understand, but some patients expressed concerns about oversimplification and missing details. Overall, ChatGPT proved effective in simplifying cardiology research while largely preserving content integrity, though further refinement of AI tools is needed to ensure accuracy.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

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