Attitudes and perception of artificial intelligence in healthcare: A cross-sectional survey among patients

Abstract

Objective The attitudes about the usage of artificial intelligence in healthcare are controversial. Unlike the perception of healthcare professionals, the attitudes of patients and their companions have been of less interest so far. In this study, we aimed to investigate the perception of artificial intelligence in healthcare among this highly relevant group along with the influence of digital affinity and sociodemographic factors. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study using a paper-based questionnaire with patients and their companions at a German tertiary referral hospital from December 2019 to February 2020. The questionnaire consisted of three sections examining (a) the respondents’ technical affinity, (b) their perception of different aspects of artificial intelligence in healthcare and (c) sociodemographic characteristics. Results From a total of 452 participants, more than 90% already read or heard about artificial intelligence, but only 24% reported good or expert knowledge. Asked on their general perception, 53.18% of the respondents rated the use of artificial intelligence in medicine as positive or very positive, but only 4.77% negative or very negative. The respondents denied concerns about artificial intelligence, but strongly agreed that artificial intelligence must be controlled by a physician. Older patients, women, persons with lower education and technical affinity were more cautious on the healthcare-related artificial intelligence usage. Conclusions German patients and their companions are open towards the usage of artificial intelligence in healthcare. Although showing only a mediocre knowledge about artificial intelligence, a majority rated artificial intelligence in healthcare as positive. Particularly, patients insist that a physician supervises the artificial intelligence and keeps ultimate responsibility for diagnosis and therapy.

Are physicians and medical students ready for artificial intelligence applications in healthcare?

“…Reports showed that patients are more excited about innovative technologies in healthcare than physicians because it gives them greater autonomy in their healthcare plans. 33 …”

The General Population’s Perspectives on Implementation of Artificial Intelligence in Radiology in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia

“…However, many studies have reported the opposite, in which people were generally positive about utilizing AI to evaluate their radiology reports. A potential reason for this is the difference in educational levels and technical affinity among the population [15,16].…”

“…However, many studies have reported the opposite, in which people were generally positive about utilizing AI to evaluate their radiology reports. A potential reason for this is the difference in educational levels and technical affinity among the population [ 15 , 16 ]. With an average score of 3.52 for the first domain (distrust and accountability), our findings indicate that participants favor human judgment over that of AI systems and that people are somewhat against the idea of AI replacing radiologists' diagnostic decisions.…”

“…These findings are consistent with what was found by Ongena YP et al study, which reported a roughly similar score for this domain (3.28) [ 6 ]. This is not surprising, considering the multiple results of decreased trust in AI for medical practice and the need for physicians to control AI [ 14 , 16 ]. Regarding the second domain (procedural knowledge), respondents agreed with several studies that it is crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of the entire diagnostic process, including how and what data are obtained and processed, scoring an average of 4.34 [ 6 , 15 ].…”

Exploring Stakeholder Requirements to Enable Research and Development of Artificial Intelligence Algorithms in a Hospital-Based Generic Infrastructure: Results of a Multistep Mixed Methods Study

“…The topic of AI in health care has recently received a significant amount of attention in research, policy making, and in the general population [ 6 - 8 ]. However, the interest and attention so far have not led to the expected numbers of development and implementation activities in Europe, which have been reported by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission [ 9 ] and in original research [ 10 , 11 ].…”