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AI Survey

Understanding Patient Views on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Results from a Global Survey

In our quest to develop better artificial intelligence (AI) tools for cancer care, the COMFORT project conducted one of the largest international surveys to understand how patients feel about the use of AI in healthcare. With responses from nearly 14,000 patients across 43 countries, this survey provides crucial insights into patients' hopes, concerns, and preferences regarding AI in medicine.

Map with interviewed countries
Geographical distribution of participating institutions (blue dots) on a world map.

The survey revealed that most patients (about 58%) have positive views about using AI in healthcare; even more (71%) prefer to be treated at medical facilities that use AI technology. This strong support for application of AI in healthcare is encouraging for our COMFORT project, which aims to develop AI tools to improve cancer detection and treatment decisions.

However, the survey also uncovered important considerations that shape how AI systems will be developed:

  • Patients strongly prefer AI systems that can explain their decisions. About 70% of patients would choose an AI system that can explain how it reaches its conclusions, even if it means slightly lower accuracy. This finding directly influences COMFORT's approach to developing "explainable AI" that can help doctors and patients understand the reasoning behind AI-based recommendations.
  • Most patients (73%) want doctors to remain in charge of final decisions, with AI serving as a supporting tool, instead of AI being fully responsible for the decisions. This aligns with COMFORT's vision of creating AI systems that assist rather than replace medical professionals.
  • Trust in AI varies significantly based on health status and familiarity with technology. Patients with poorer health tend to be more cautious about AI, highlighting the importance of developing systems that are particularly trustworthy and accessible for those who need them most.

Key Points:

  • Most patients worldwide have a positive attitude towards AI in healthcare
  • There is a strong preference for explainable AI systems
  • Patients want AI to support, not replace, their doctors
  • Trust in AI needs to be built, especially among vulnerable patients

These insights are already helping to shape COMFORT's development of AI tools for prostate and kidney cancer. The team focuses on creating systems that are not only accurate but also transparent, explainable, and designed to support doctors rather than replace them.

This research, one of the largest of its kind, helps ensure that new AI technologies for cancer care are developed in a way that meets patients' needs and expectations. By understanding what matters most to patients, we can create AI tools that doctors and patients will trust and want to use.