JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The changing landscape of healthcare has led to the incorporation of powerful new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) to assist with various services across a hospital. However, despite the potential outcomes that this tool may provide, little work has examined public opinion regarding their use. In this study, we aim to explore differences between younger versus older Canadians with regards to level of comfort and perceptions around the adoption and use of AI in healthcare settings.

Objective:

The primary objective of this study is to compare perceptions of the use of AI in healthcare among younger versus older Canadians. We hypothesize that younger people, who are generally more exposed to emerging technology will have more favorable opinions and responses to the use of AI in healthcare compared to older people. A secondary aim is to explore the role of previous experience and satisfaction with virtual care in shaping more positive perceptions of the use of AI in healthcare. We hypothesize that survey respondents who had more prior experience and higher satisfaction rates with virtual healthcare would have more positive perceptions of the use of AI in healthcare.

Methods:

Using data from the 2021 Canadian Digital Health Survey (n=12,052), items related to perceptions about the use of AI as well as previous experience and satisfaction with healthcare were identified. We conducted Mann Whitney U tests to compare the level of comfort of younger versus older Canadians regarding the use of AI in healthcare for a variety of purposes. Multinomial logistic regression was used to predict the categorical placement of individuals’ choices

Results:

Examining participants' knowledge of AI, we found that younger individuals had significantly higher AI knowledge compared to older individuals. The average rank of comfort with the use of AI within healthcare was significantly higher among older Canadians compared to younger Canadians with regards to 1) the use of personal data with informed consent, 2) in monitoring and predicting health conditions, 3) in decision support, 4) diagnostic imaging 5) precision medicine, 6) drug and vaccine development, 7) in disease monitoring at home, 8) in tracking epidemics 9) in optimizing workflow to save time for healthcare (p<.001) The average rank of comfort using personal data without informed consent was significantly higher for younger participants than for older respondents. Regression analyses identified that older respondents were typically more comfortable with AI access in all categories except when it came to comfort with personal data without informed consent.

Conclusions:

Older Canadians may be more open to various applications of AI within healthcare compared to younger Canadians. Gaining a greater understanding of the perceptions of all healthcare users is integral to the implementation and sustainability of new and cutting-edge technologies in healthcare settings. Clinical Trial: N/A