"Now you're talking my language" - Improving health literacy and patient-directed knowledge of scientific abstracts through provision of plain language summaries created by artificial intelligence: A cross sectional infodemiology study.

Medical journals may reach out to lay readers, including service users, patients, family and friends, through new innovation with the inclusion of a Plain Language Summary. Scientific abstracts are written at a level which is beyond the average reading age of 11 years old in the UK. Computational creativity through the employment of AI platforms can successfully generate narrative text for specific reading ages, with optimal readability. Effective communication of medical research findings from medical and scientific papers is vital for service users to enhance their health literacy, thereby helping promote better clinical outcomes, as well as promoting inclusivity for lay readers. With thorough checks and controls by the authors of clinical papers, AI-created plain language summaries may provide a new medium for medical journals to communicate with patients and service users, the results of clinical and original studies. The ability to create fit-for-purpose and easy-to-read Plain Language Summaries allows the lay public and service users to now become included in the family of readers of the journal and further supports the health literacy of patients and service users.