AI Meets Systematic Reviews: A Test Case on Multivitamins

Written By Georgii Filatov

I recently conducted an experiment to test AI’s ability to streamline systematic reviews—and the results are in.

Systematic reviews are essential in medicine, but they’re time-consuming. Screening thousands of papers manually takes weeks or even months. Could AI help speed up this process?

To find out, I built a simple AI-powered data extraction tool and used it to run a systematic review of over 1,800 studies on multivitamin supplementation in healthy individuals.

This was a test case—not a conclusive study—but it provided valuable insights into where AI excels and where human oversight is still needed.

The Experiment: What I Did

  1. Searched and retrieved over 1,800 research papers from PubMed on multivitamin effects.

  2. Used AI to automate screening and data extraction, cutting down the time needed for manual review.

  3. Evaluated AI’s performance in categorizing studies and summarizing outcomes.

  4. Identified key strengths and limitations of using AI in this context.

Key Takeaways

  • AI is fast. It processed over 1,800 abstracts in minutes—a task that would take a human days or weeks.

  • AI is structured. It reliably extracted data following straight-forward queries.

  • AI lacks nuance. It struggled with contextual classification, occasionally miscategorizing studies.

  • AI needs oversight. While it speeds up research, human validation remains essential for accuracy.

What This Means for the Future

This experiment reinforced that while AI won’t replace human researchers, it has the potential to assist with large-scale literature reviews by automating time-consuming tasks.

We’re not at a point where AI can fully take over systematic reviews, but there’s potential for hybrid models where AI speeds up initial screening while researchers handle complex interpretations.

Read the Full Report

If you’re curious about the full breakdown, you can read the complete report here.

If you’re interested in systematic reviews or AI-assisted research workflows, let’s connect. I specialize in medical writing and evidence synthesis, and I’m always happy to discuss efficient ways to manage large-scale literature reviews.

Let’s talk. Whether you’re a researcher, biotech company, or healthcare innovator, I’d love to hear your thoughts on AI in medical research.

Georgii Filatov