Slepian Co-Authors Study Showing 47% of Americans Open to AI Doctors

Artificial intelligence is increasingly entering our daily lives, but where are people willing to draw the line? A new paper co-authored by BME clinical professor Marvin Slepian shows that almost half of US patients are open to using an AI clinic for diagnosis and treatment. The paper reports the results of a survey that found 52% of Americans would choose a human doctor over a robot. 

"While many patients appear resistant to the use of AI, accuracy of information, nudges and a listening patient experience may help increase acceptance," Slepian said in an interview with Medical Xpress. "To ensure that the benefits of AI are secured in clinical practice, future research on best methods of physician incorporation and patient decision making is required."

The study found that disease severity did not affect a patient's decision over human or robotic diagnoses. However, survey respondents were more open to AI doctors if human doctors said AI was superior. Slepian, who is also a Regents professor in the BIO5 Institute, argues that many people already use AI for medical information, possible without realizing it, in the form of Google or Yahoo searches. 

"There is always that human bond and concept, and there is a sensitivity which you simply can't build into computer systems," Slepian said in an interview with KOLD. "If you think about it, even going back thousands of years, physicians have always added new tools. We don't rely on tests alone, we use them as an augmentation to our insight and capability."

The paper "Diverse patients’ attitudes towards Artificial Intelligence (AI) in diagnosis" was published in the medical journal PLOS Digital Health.