Trust in the healthcare profession: AI in doctors' offices? Patients skeptical

Artificial intelligence (AI) is also on the rise in medicine – from image analysis to differential diagnoses. However, people rate doctors more negatively when they report using AI in their work, according to a study recently published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Even when AI is used only for administrative purposes, physicians are rated as less competent, trustworthy, and empathetic than those for whom this technology is not yet relevant. The more than 1,200 participants in the experiment were asked to rate the doctors featured in advertisements for medical practices on various characteristics. The results showed that a brief reference to the use of AI was enough to lower the doctors' ratings. Patients' willingness to make an appointment with them also decreased.

The researchers see a possible reason for this skepticism in the concern that physicians might blindly trust AI's decisions. This reservation is evident regardless of whether the practice uses AI for diagnoses, treatments, or merely administrative tasks.

Given that a trusting patient-doctor relationship is crucial for treatment success, the question arises: How can the use of AI in medicine be communicated without squandering trust and dispelling doubts?

The study therefore recommends highlighting the benefits of the technology. For example, if AI takes over administrative tasks, medical professionals could argue that they have more time for personal care.