Meet PAM, the Parkinson’s Foundation New LLM
The Parkinson’s Foundation released a new AI-driven LLM (Large Language Model) tool for visitors to their site, called “Ask PAM,” the Parkinson’s Assistance Messenger. It offers visitors a chance to ask a variety of questions about Parkinson’s disease, including information on symptoms, medications, exercise, nutrition, hospital safety, managing appointments, research, emotional support, and care partner needs. According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, PAM provides “trusted, evidence-based answers anytime, anywhere.” The LLM uses information stored on the Foundation’s website, which gives “instant access to accurate information, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, providing immediate, reliable answers in the moment.” The launch of “Ask PAM” comes as a broadening effort to provide accurate, trustworthy information about the disease, particularly during Parkinson’s Awareness Month, when organizations worldwide bring attention to the seriousness of Parkinson’s Disease to help raise awareness, highlight the visibility of the disease to those who are not affected by it but may have family who do, and urge Congress to increase funding, highlighting the need for sustained investment to drive research forward, improve treatments and bring us closer to a cure.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that affects movement and impacts mood, cognition, and other non-motor functions. It is estimated to affect nearly 1 million people in the United States, with tens of thousands of new diagnoses each year. The global numbers for Parkinson’s cases are expected to grow to 25.2 million by the year 2050.
Artificial intelligence has been used since the early 2000s to help researchers find and diagnose a cure for the disease, starting with analyzing brain imaging scans, to helping researchers detect subtle changes in speech, handwriting and gait in the 2010s, to helping researchers analyze large datasets and improve diagnostic accuracy around 2016 to support new drug therapies, identify biological markers, and predict disease progression, as well as studying the gut-brain connection and predicting disease progression through the use of wearable monitoring tools accessible today.
Given the amount of information about Parkinson’s disease published and accessible, the responses to questions like “Tell me about Parkinson’s” seemed a little limited, prompting me to ask more questions in order to get additional details about the disease. My next question,” What can I do to offset fatigue from Parkinson’s symptoms?” also gave me another three bullet point set of answers, with a link to the source page on fatigue from their website. The responses felt less like a conversational AI and more like a search tool pulling information directly from their website, rather than the more fluid, back-and-forth style seen in LLMs like ChatGPT or Claude.
Since“Ask PAM” is a first-generation LLM based solely on the Parkinson’s Foundation website, it remains to be seen if the Parkinson’s Foundation will expand the LLM to include additional sources like the NIH’s National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes or other organizations like the Michael J Fox Foundation to offer a more well-rounded and comprehensive knowledge base that reflects the broader landscape of Parkinson’s research, clinical care and patient experience.
The Parkinson’s Foundation, from its founding roots in 1957 to its current iteration starting in 2016, has been leading the fight by helping patients with the disease find a better quality of life, funding research, advancing scientific discovery, and providing education, support services, and resources aimed at improving symptoms for people living with Parkinson’s, caregivers, and their families.
According to the Parkinson’s Foundation website, information shared over PAM is secure and confidential, but it makes no mention of how the information is encrypted and admits to sharing your browsing history with Google and Meta so they can serve ads on their platforms, per their privacy page.
“Ask PAM” is a great first-gen product; the tool is part of the foundation’s “Find Real Answers” campaign, which encourages patients and caregivers to seek out reliable, science-based information as they navigate the complexities of the disease.
As awareness efforts continue throughout April, the foundation says tools like “Ask PAM” can play a role in empowering individuals to better understand their condition and make informed decisions about their care with the help of their neurologist and others involved in their treatment. For those just discovering Parkinson’s, the tool helps them find answers to questions they may not yet know how to ask, or seek information about a family member or friend, offering guidance in the earliest and often most overwhelming stages of diagnosis. “Ask PAM” is available as part of the Parkinson’s Foundation website at www.parkinson.org.
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