Patient trust in medical professionals might hinge on what artificial intelligence (AI) has to say, according to a team led by Penn State researchers.
Using an AI chatbot roleplaying as a human doctor, the team identified how people perceive medical professionals when they think a "human" doctor consults an AI system for a second opinion during mental health consultations. They found that when the AI system agreed with the proxy doctor's recommendation, patients viewed the professional's assessment as more credible. But when the AI disagreed with the doctor's assessment, patient perceptions of medical uncertainty and doctor laziness increased.
The researchers reported their findings in the June/July issue of the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies.
"Historically, when a doctor told a patient that they're welcome to get a second opinion, they meant 'go to another doctor'," said S. Shyam Sundar, Evan Pugh University Professor and the James P. Jimirro Professor of Media Effects at Penn State. "But now in the same session, physicians can use an AI assistant to give a second opinion. We wondered how that might affect patients' impressions of doctors. We found that perceptions of doctor credibility and medical certainty increase or decrease based on whether the AI assistant agrees or disagrees with the doctor's diagnosis."
Recruiting a team of human doctors to give tens or hundreds of patients a consistent experience in terms of clinical practice, communication style and interaction patterns in a controlled experimental setting is impractical, according to the researchers. So, they developed an AI-powered chatbot that could personalize conversations with patients, and gave it instructions to roleplay as a doctor named Dr. Alex.
Then the researchers recruited 135 adults in the United States and offered them an online therapy session with Dr. Alex to identify and discuss daily life stressors. Dr. Alex provided a brief mental health therapy session using the cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) approach and concluded that CBT is a suitable approach for the patient. Dr. Alex also offered participants the option to get a second opinion from an AI assistant, CareBot. The assistant either agreed or disagreed with Dr. Alex's recommendation.
