69% of Americans wary of AI diagnoses, Salesforce finds
CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES — A significant portion of Americans remain skeptical about artificial intelligence (AI) replacing human doctors for diagnoses, according to Salesforce’s latest Pulse of the Patient Snapshot survey.
The survey, conducted with 1,443 U.S. adults, revealed that 69% are uncomfortable with healthcare companies using AI to diagnose them. This highlights a critical divide in the acceptance of AI for clinical versus nonclinical roles.
Moreover, 47% of respondents believe AI will have a major impact on the health system overall over the next five years, while 63% are worried about security risks and inaccurate information AI may provide.
However, more than half of the respondents welcome AI for nonclinical tasks such as scheduling appointments and estimating medical expenses.
“AI won’t replace doctors, it will augment them. People highly value and trust the personal relationship with their doctors, and AI should be seen as a tool to enhance and support that relationship, rather than a substitute,” said Amit Khanna, SVP & GM at Salesforce Health.
Only 2% of U.S. adults turn to #generativeAI sources for healthcare information, according to @Salesforce's latest research.
Discover how #generativeAI won't replace doctors but will empower them to deliver even better care and alleviate workload: https://t.co/PliEy6gPQI
— Salesforce News (@SalesforceNews) March 7, 2024
Despite the global usage of generative AI like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude, only 2% of U.S. adults trust it for healthcare information, with a strong preference (70%) for consulting their physicians.
The survey also reveals a generational shift, with Gen Z showing a higher reliance on digital and AI sources for healthcare information, signaling a potential area for healthcare providers to address misinformation and effectively distribute trusted information.
As AI’s role in healthcare remains unclear to many, with only 10% feeling well-informed, education is crucial to build trust in AI’s potential to improve healthcare experiences without compromising care quality or patient data integrity.
Meanwhile, healthcare industry executives acknowledged at the ViVE 2024 conference last month how AI has helped them improve healthcare delivery in various ways, from administrative tasks to identifying new cancers.
