How do patients feel about doctors using AI in consults?

The public has ‘certain reservations’ about the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, according to a new study.
 
The use of AI amongst doctors is rapidly gaining momentum, with many GPs beginning to use the tools in their general practices.
 
However, new research has delved into just what patients think of their doctors using AI in consults and whether it impacts their perceived competence, trustworthiness or clinical skills.
 
For the study, 1276 adults were shown fake advertisements for GPs ‘that might be encountered on social media or billboards’.
 
Participants were placed into one of four groups and show near-identical versions of the same advertisement.
 
The advertisements included one with no statement on AI use, and three others which stated the practice uses innovative AI tools ‘to make your appointment less bureaucratic’, ‘for optimised diagnostics’, or ‘for optimised therapy’.
 
Participants then rated the presented physician on their perceived competence, trustworthiness, and empathy, as well as their willingness to make an appointment with the physician.
 
Researchers found that in every AI advertisement, the portrayed physician was perceived as ‘significantly less competent’.
 
‘Moreover, participants indicated a significantly lower willingness to make an appointment with the portrayed physician, if any type of AI use was mentioned,’ the study found.
 
The research comes as use of AI in Australian general practices continues to evolve, with some GPs taking up the opportunity while others remain hesitant.
 
According to a 2024 newsGP poll, just 22% of the 1170 respondents are currently using AI scribes in their general practice.
 
A separate newsGP poll found 65% of the 1328 respondents never use conversational AI tools, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot, within their general practice.
 
According to an RACGP resource on AI scribes in general practice, there are both potential benefits and problems associated with the use of AI in consults.
 
It says that while AI has the potential to reduce administrative burdens for GPs, allowing them to focus on the patient during a consultation, it also brings with it clinical, privacy, security, and workflow concerns.
 
‘The RACGP recommends that GPs proceed with caution and apply their own judgement in deciding whether to use an AI scribe, or indeed any AI tool, in their practice,’ the resource states.
 
But with the new study shedding light on patient and public perspective on AI, the researchers say future research should explore potential moderating factors, such as patients’ experience with AI and with digital tools in general.
 
‘Potential reasons for existing scepticism 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 healthcare costs,’ they concluded.
 
‘From the physician’s perspective it thus may be important to transparently communicate the rationale for using AI and to emphasise its potential benefits for the patient.
 
‘Limitations to the generalisability of our results are the use of hypothetical scenarios, the somewhat artificial nature of our stimuli, and the recruitment of a sample that agreed to participate in such experiments.’
 
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