ChatGPT: Artificial Intelligence as a Potential Tool for Parents Seeking Information About Autism

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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McFayden, T., Bristol, S., Putnam, O., & Harrop, C. (2024). ChatGPT: Artificial Intelligence as a Potential Tool for Parents Seeking Information About Autism. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 27(2), 135-148. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2023.0202

Publication date: 5 Jan 2024 Added to AutiHub: 27 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
4
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 4 (25.0%)
  1. Tyler McFayden
  2. Stephanie Bristol
  3. Orla Putnam *
  4. Clare Harrop

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder has seen a drastic increase in prevalence over the past two decades, along with discourse rife with debates and misinformation. This discourse has primarily taken place online, the main source of information for parents seeking information about autism. One potential tool for navigating information is ChatGPT-4, an artificial intelligence question and answer-style communication program. Although ChatGPT shows great promise, no empirical work has evaluated its viability as a tool for providing information about autism to caregivers. The current study evaluated answers provided by ChatGPT, including basic information about autism, myths/misconceptions, and resources. Our results suggested that ChatGPT was largely correct, concise, and clear, but did not provide much actionable advice, which was further limited by inaccurate references and hyperlinks. The authors conclude that ChatGPT-4 is a viable tool for parents seeking accurate information about autism, with opportunities for improvement in actionability and reference accuracy.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 08:13.

Cited references
15
With a DOI
15
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
0
4 / 15 (26.7%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 15 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
15 / 15 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
Without a stable identifier
0
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
88
From DOI or external metadata
88
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
17 / 88 (19.3%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 71 / 88 (80.7%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
6 / 88 (6.8%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 6 / 17 (35.3%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 6 / 88 (6.8%).
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    Type: Article DOI: 10.12669/pjms.39.2.7653 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4319350602
    OpenAlex
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    Type: Article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pdig.0000198 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4319662928
    OpenAlex
  15. Malik Sallam , Nesreen A Salim , Ala’a B Al-Tammemi , Muna Barakat , Diaa Fayyad , Souheil Hallit et al. (2023). ChatGPT Output Regarding Compulsory Vaccination and COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy: A Descriptive Study at the Outset of a Paradigm Shift in Online Search for Information . Cureus, 15(2), e35029-e35029. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
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