Knowledge Study: Skepticism towards medical AI advice
Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role in medicine. However, if people believe that medical advice comes from a chatbot, skepticism arises, according to a study reported in the journal "Nature Medicine".
31.07.2024, 20:00
SDA
In particular, the reliability and empathy of AI advice are rated negatively. German scientists investigated the reaction of people to AI-generated medical advice. "We were not interested in the technical competence of the AI, but solely in the question of how the AI output is perceived," says Moritz Reis from Julius-Maximilians-Universität.
The research group divided more than 2,000 study participants into three groups who received identical medical advice as part of the experiment. The first group was told that the recommendations came from a doctor. In the second group, an AI-based chatbot was named as the originator and the third group assumed that the advice came from a chatbot but was checked again by a doctor.
People are biased
The test subjects assessed the recommendations for reliability, comprehensibility and empathy. As soon as they suspected that an AI was involved, they perceived the advice as less empathetic and reliable. This was also true for the group who believed that a doctor had reviewed the AI recommendations. Accordingly, they were less willing to follow these recommendations.
"The effect of bias against AI is not huge, but it is statistically significant," comments Reis. "Anyone can be a patient and use such tools. Therefore, even smaller effects can develop great social relevance."
Explanations for AI scepticism
The cognitive psychologist partly explains AI scepticism with stereotypes: "Many people believe that a machine cannot be empathetic." In terms of comprehensibility, however, all three groups rated the advice the same. "Empathy is probably seen as a human characteristic, while comprehensibility is seen as a technical skill," says Reis. For the research group, the AI scepticism identified is important, as artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in medicine. In fact, there are numerous publications on new AI applications.
