Survey Reveals Public Has Negative Perceptions of Physicians Using AI
TUESDAY, July 29, 2025 -- The public appears to have reservations about the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in U.S. health care, according to a research letter published online July 17 in JAMA Network Open.
Moritz Reis, from the University of Wuerzburg in Germany, and colleagues conducted a survey to explore how statements on different types of AI use (diagnostic, therapeutic, and administrative) influence the public’s perception of respective physicians based on four fictitious advertisements for family doctors. Respondents rated the presented physician on perceived competence, trustworthiness, empathy, and willingness to make an appointment with the physician on a 5-point scale. The analysis included 1,276 adult respondents.
The researchers found that in every AI condition, the portrayed physician was perceived as significantly less competent (control, 3.85 points; administrative AI, 3.71 points; diagnostic AI, 3.66 points; therapeutic AI, 3.58 points), less trustworthy (control, 3.88 points; administrative AI, 3.66 points; diagnostic AI, 3.62 points; therapeutic AI, 3.61 points), and less empathic (control, 4.00 points; administrative AI, 3.80 points; diagnostic AI, 3.82 points; therapeutic AI, 3.72 points) compared with the control. Participants also indicated a significantly lower willingness to make an appointment with the portrayed physician if any type of AI use was mentioned (control, 3.61 points; administrative AI, 3.32 points; diagnostic AI, 3.16 points; therapeutic AI, 3.15 points). Among the AI conditions, there were no significant differences.
"Potential reasons for existing skepticism may include concerns that physicians rely too much on AI and that the use of AI could reduce patient-physician interactions as well as concerns about data protection and rising health care costs," the authors write. "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."
One author reported having an employment contract with Pfizer.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
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