21-05-2025
AI in Healthcare Faces Growing Skepticism Among Patients
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Hello. I'm Dr Markman, from City of Hope. I'd like to briefly discuss two separate but related articles that recently appeared, which touch on the evolving and critically important topic of artificial intelligence.
The first paper is 'Patients' Trust in Health Systems to Use Artificial Intelligence.'The second paper is 'Public Attitudes Toward Notification of Use of Artificial Intelligence in Health Care.' Both of these manuscripts were published in JAMA Network Open .
In both cases, the studies were surveys of US adults from the National Opinion Research Center. The first study was from June to July 2023. There were 2039 respondents (51% female) and very reasonable representation based upon various ethnic subgroups.
The general trust in the healthcare system was asked of this group. On a scale of 0 to 12, the mean score was 5.38. This is already telling you that perhaps there may be a bit of a concern here.
Now, turning to the question that we're highlighting here, which is about trust in the system to use AI responsibly. I'm going to say this and repeat it: 65.8% had low levels of trust in the healthcare system to use AI responsibly — 65.8%. Two out of three patients said they had low levels of trust in the system to use AI responsibly. This is, in my opinion, a really serious statement about how the public is viewing the situation.
Furthermore, 57.7% had low levels of trust in their healthcare system to be sure that AI would not harm them — more than half said they had a low level of trust that their system would make sure that AI would not harm them. This isvery concerning.
In the second study, there were 2021 respondents; a slight majority, 52%, were female. There was a statement posed: 'It is important that I am notified about the use of AI in my healthcare.' The question was, "How important is that statement?" and 62.7% of respondents said — and this is the highest level — it was very true that they wanted to be notified if AI was being used in their healthcare. Only 4.8%, or 1 out of 20 patients, said they didn't want to be notified.
Clearly, patients want to know it's being used and they don't want it to be used without their knowledge. Second, they are fearful and concerned. I think all members of the healthcare environment, including doctors, nurses, healthcare administrators, and payers, need to listen to this.
The public is concerned, based upon what they've read, what they've heard, podcasts they've listened to, and social media. They're concerned about the potential risk of harm, and they don't necessarily trust their own healthcare system to do what's best for them.
It's a critical message that needs to be heard. I actually agree with the opinion of the majority of the public about that potential concern.
Thank you for your attention.
