Smoła Paulina, Młoźniak Iwona, Wojcieszko Monika, Zwierczyk Urszula, Kobryn Mateusz, Rzepecka Elżbieta, Duplaga Mariusz
Department of Health Promotion and e-Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Public Health, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland.
Department of Epidemiology and Population Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Public Health, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland.
Front Digit Health. 2025 Jan 27;7:1458685. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2025.1458685. eCollection 2025.
The growth of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic solutions in healthcare is accompanied by high expectations for improved efficiency and quality of services. However, the use of such technologies can be a source of anxiety for patients whose expectations and experiences with such technology differ from medical staff's. This study assessed attitudes toward AI and robots in delivering health services and performing various tasks in medicine and related fields in Polish society.
50 semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with participants of diversified socio-demographic profiles. The interviewees were initially recruited for the interviews in a convenience sample; then, the process was continued using the snowballing technique. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the MAXQDA Analytics Pro 2022 program (release 22.7.0). An interpretative approach to qualitative content analysis was applied to the responses to the research questions.
The analysis of interviews yielded three main themes: positive and negative perceptions of the use of AI and robots in healthcare and ontological concerns about AI, which went beyond objections about the usefulness of the technology. Positive attitudes toward AI and robots were associated with overall higher trust in technology, the need to adequately respond to demographic challenges, and the conviction that AI and robots can lower the workload of medical personnel. Negative attitudes originated from convictions regarding unreliability and the lack of proper technological and political control over AI; an equally important topic was the inability of artificial entities to feel and express emotions. The third theme was that the potential interaction with machines equipped with human-like traits was a source of insecurity.
The study showed that patients' attitudes toward AI and robots in healthcare vary according to their trust in technology, their recognition of urgent problems in healthcare (staff workload, time of diagnosis), and their beliefs regarding the reliability and functioning of new technologies. Emotional concerns about contact with artificial entities looking or performing like humans are also important to respondents' attitudes.
人工智能（AI）和机器人解决方案在医疗保健领域的应用不断增长，人们对提高服务效率和质量寄予厚望。然而，对于那些对这类技术的期望和体验与医务人员不同的患者来说，使用这些技术可能会引发焦虑。本研究评估了波兰社会对人工智能和机器人在提供医疗服务以及在医学及相关领域执行各种任务方面的态度。
对具有不同社会人口统计学特征的参与者进行了50次半结构化深度访谈。受访者最初是在便利样本中招募进行访谈的；然后，使用滚雪球技术继续这一过程。访谈内容经转录后，使用MAXQDA Analytics Pro 2022程序（版本22.7.0）进行分析。对研究问题的回答采用解释性定性内容分析方法。
访谈分析产生了三个主要主题：对医疗保健中使用人工智能和机器人的积极和消极看法，以及对人工智能的本体论担忧，这超出了对技术实用性的反对。对人工智能和机器人的积极态度与对技术总体上更高的信任、充分应对人口挑战的必要性，以及认为人工智能和机器人可以减轻医务人员工作量的信念相关。消极态度源于对人工智能不可靠以及缺乏对其适当技术和政治控制的信念；同样重要的一个话题是人工实体无法感受和表达情感。第三个主题是，与具有类人特征的机器进行潜在交互是不安全感的一个来源。
研究表明，患者对医疗保健中人工智能和机器人的态度因其对技术的信任、对医疗保健紧迫问题（工作人员工作量、诊断时间）的认识，以及对新技术可靠性和功能的信念而有所不同。对与外表或行为像人类的人工实体接触的情感担忧，对受访者的态度也很重要。
