# GenSpectrum Chat: Data Exploration in Public Health Using Large Language Models

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.13821 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.13821/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 6 of its 49 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 23 May 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [LLaMA: Open and Efficient Foundation Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.13971/) (2023)
- [Not what you've signed up for: Compromising Real-World LLM-Integrated Applications with Indirect Prompt Injection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.12173/) (2023)
- [On Faithfulness and Factuality in Abstractive Summarization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.00661/) (2020)
- [A Prompt Pattern Catalog to Enhance Prompt Engineering with ChatGPT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.11382/) (2023)
- [Many bioinformatics programming tasks can be automated with ChatGPT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.13528/) (2023)
- [On the Potential of Artificial Intelligence Chatbots for Data Exploration of Federated Bioinformatics Knowledge Graphs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.10427/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Bioinformatics and Biomedical Informatics with ChatGPT: Year One Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.15274/) (2024)
- [A Generative Approach for Semantic Auditing of Electronic Health Records](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.02628/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of making epidemiological data and scientific insights easily accessible and explorable for public health agencies, the general public, and researchers. State-of-the-art approaches for sharing data and insights included regularly updated reports and web dashboards. However, they face a trade-off between the simplicity and flexibility of data exploration. With the capabilities of recent large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4, this trade-off can be overcome. Results: We developed the chatbot "GenSpectrum Chat" (https://cov-spectrum.org/chat) which uses GPT-4 as the underlying large language model (LLM) to explore SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequencing data. Out of 500 inputs from real-world users, the chatbot provided a correct answer for 453 prompts; an incorrect answer for 13 prompts, and no answer although the question was within scope for 34 prompts. We also tested the chatbot with inputs from 10 different languages, and despite being provided solely with English instructions and examples, it successfully processed prompts in all tested languages. Conclusion: LLMs enable new ways of interacting with information systems. In the field of public health, GenSpectrum Chat can facilitate the analysis of real-time pathogen genomic data. With our chatbot supporting interactive exploration in different languages, we envision quick and direct access to the latest evidence for policymakers around the world.