A GP registrar’s decision to use AI website ChatGPT to “finesse” a referral letter nearly lost them their job just before their fellowship exams, a medical defence organisation says.

Avant says the registrar was struggling to balance the “overwhelming demands” of GP training with their young family and knew other GPs at the practice used AI scribes to save time.

However, the registrar did not investigate the practice’s AI policy before using the popular AI ChatGPT, according to Dr Andrew Baird, a medical adviser and claims manager at Avant.

“As they weren’t confident their patient referral letters were suitably professional, the registrar used ChatGPT to finesse the letters,” Dr Baird wrote for Avant this month.