Trust in the use of artificial intelligence technology for treatment planning

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more prevalent in day-to-day life, it is important to consider public opinion and acceptance towards these AI systems. Specifically, many struggle to trust AI when used to create medical treatment plans. After all, one’s health tends to be a very emotionally-charged issue and not necessarily what we would associate with a machine. To address this, we present the question: Do young college students from diverse backgrounds trust AI system-developed treatment plans? We hypothesized that participants would rate the treatment plan developed by the AI system lower than the treatment plan developed by a physician. We conducted a between-group randomized controlled experiment with 81 community college students (75% female, 25% male) from a Hispanic Serving Institution. We presented the control group with a case study in which a physician designed the treatment plan. We presented the experimental group with a case study in which an AI system designed the treatment plan. The AI-developed treatment plan scored lower on the trust rating scale than the physician-created treatment plan, which is consistent with the hypothesis. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups' scores on the Healthcare Trust Questionnaire. Our results also showed no significant difference between the trust levels in AI of people of different ages, genders, ethnicities, employment statuses, or hospitalization statuses, contradicting previous research. Overall, our findings may indicate a negative public opinion regarding AI-developed treatment plans, potentially deterring the future of AI- driven healthcare.