Patients are less trusting of physicians who use AI, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open July 17.
For the study, which took place in January, researchers created a sample of 1,276 U.S. adults based on the 2021 census. Participants were shown fictitious advertisements for family physicians that might be seen on social media or billboards. The participants received similar ads but were divided into four groups: one received ads that mentioned physician AI use for administrative purposes, one that mentioned physician AI use for diagnostic purposes, one that mentioned physician AI use for therapeutic purposes and one that made no mention of physician AI use.
The participants were then asked to rate the physicians on a five-point scale for perceived competence, trustworthiness and empathy. They were also asked if they would be willing to make an appointment with the physicians.
Here’s how patients responses to the various advertisements:
1. Physicians were perceived as significantly less competent, less trustworthy and less empathic when patients were told that the physicians used AI for administrative, diagnostic or therapeutic purposes, compared with those in the non-AI control group.
2. Participants were also significantly less willing to make an appointment with the physician if any AI use was mentioned.
3. “From the physician’s perspective, it thus may be important to transparently communicate the rationale for using AI and to emphasize its potential benefits for the patient,” the researchers noted.
