Attitudes and Acceptance Towards Artificial Intelligence in Medical Care

Abstract

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine is a very topical issue. As far as the attitudes and perspectives of the different stakeholders in healthcare are concerned, there is still much to be explored. Objective: Our aim was to determine attitudes and aspects towards acceptance of AI applications from the perspective of physicians in university hospitals. Methods: We conducted individual exploratory expert interviews. Low fidelity mockups were used to show interviewees potential application areas of AI in clinical care. Results: In principle, physicians are open to the use of AI in medical care. However, they are critical of some aspects such as data protection or the lack of explainability of the systems. Conclusion: Although some trends in attitudes e.g., on the challenges or benefits of using AI became clear, it is necessary to conduct further research as intended by the subsequent PEAK project.

Medical doctor’s perception of artificial intelligence during the COVID-19 era: A mixed methods study

“…Doctors recognize the need for the integration of AI tools with the existing system of medicine (86.5%). Some international studies report that doctors are open to the use of AI in the medical industry,[ 10 ] while some studies identified reserved attitudes of doctors about the prospect of AI. [ 11 ]…”

Design of a Human-in-the-Loop Centered AI-Based Clinical Decision Support System for Professional Care Planning

“…As part of the project, 12 doctors were asked what benefits they thought AI could have for medical care. The results were published by Holzner et al [29] In the study, the benefits of AI were cited as reducing errors in care and thus increasing (patient) safety, reducing the workload of physicians by performing repetitive or simple tasks, optimizing processes, structuring data, or saving time. The respondents saw the strengths of AI primarily in the objectivity of the systems.…”

“…One respondent felt that the responsibility was increased, as medical professionals must take into account an external decision in addition to their assessment. When asked about the discrepancy between their medical judgment and that of the AI, two-thirds of health professionals saw this as an incentive to critically question their own decision and, if necessary, to seek a second opinion from a colleague [29]. Among the challenges of implementing AI in everyday medical practice, respondents cited the seamless integration of systems into existing settings.…”

“…However, AICDSS should fit as well as possible into users' existing workflows, e.g., through integration with the electronic health record (EHR), to minimize user burden and increase access to recommendations [30]. The potential for manipulation or misuse of patient data has also been criticized [29]. A recent survey on AI in the United States shows that privacy is seen as the most important issue when it comes to this technology [31].…”

“…A lack of confidence in the security of data collection may reduce patient acceptance [17]. In addition, concerns have been raised about the susceptibility to an error in the development of AI systems due to the database, as well as the need for systems to be explainable and transparent [29]. This lack of transparency in decisions is particularly relevant for deep learning approaches.…”