Opinions and Preferences Regarding Artificial Intelligence Use in Health Care Delivery: Results From a National Multisite Survey of Breast Imaging Patients.

Objective: Artificial intelligence (AI) utilization is growing, but patient perceptions of AI are unclear. Our objective was to understand patient perceptions of AI through a multisite survey of breast imaging patients.

Methods: A 36-question survey was distributed to eight US practices (six academic, two nonacademic) from October 2023 through October 2024. This article analyzes a subset of questions from the survey addressing digital health literacy and attitudes toward AI in medicine and breast imaging specifically. Multivariable analysis compared responses by respondent demographics.

Results: A total of 3,532 surveys were collected (response rate: 69.9%, 3,532 of 5,053). Median respondent age was 55 years (interquartile range 20). Most respondents were White (73.0%, 2,579 of 3,532) and had completed college (77.3%, 2,732 of 3,532). Overall, respondents were undecided (range: 43.2%-50.8%) regarding questions about general perceptions of AI in health care. Respondents with higher electronic health literacy, more education, and younger age were significantly more likely to consider it useful to use AI for aiding medical tasks (all P < .001). In contrast, respondents with lower electronic health literacy and less education were significantly more likely to indicate it was a bad idea for AI to perform medical tasks (P < .001). Non-White patients were more likely to express concerns that AI will not work as well for some groups compared with others (P < .05). Overall, favorable opinions of AI use for medical tasks were associated with younger age, more education, and higher electronic health literacy.

Discussion: As AI is increasingly implemented into clinical workflows, it is important to educate patients and provide transparency to build patient understanding and trust.