Date of Award
4-2025
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts - Psychology
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Steven Estrada
Second Advisor
Dr. Lauren Brewer
Third Advisor
Dr. Scott Hutchens
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Sarah Straub
Abstract
This study examined whether medical professionals across different levels of expertise show differences in their perceptions of healthcare artificial intelligence (AI). Specifically, the researcher hypothesized that participants with more expertise and experience would have greater negative perceptions associated with AI in healthcare compared to participants with a lower expertise level. Participants completed a questionnaire evaluating their perceptions of healthcare AI across four components: long-term negative consequences of AI, need for AI safeguards, positive perceptions of AI, and AI control. Participants also completed demographic questions evaluating participants' age, sex, ethnicity, years working in a healthcare setting, medical specialty, and whether they had prior experience with AI. Age and years working in a healthcare setting were found to positively correlate with concern for the long-term negative consequences of AI. Additionally, participants were grouped within a major specialty group (i.e., internal medicine, lifestyle medicine, and surgery) based on their reported medical specialty. Participants in the internal medicine group were found to have significantly more concern for the long-term negative consequences of AI. Finally, comparing participants who report working in an administrative position were found to have greater concern for the need for AI safeguards compared to participants reporting working as clinicians. Given that implementation of AI in healthcare is progressing rapidly, knowing whether differences exist amongst perceptions of physicians working at different levels of experience, different roles, and different specialties is important as these individuals are the most impacted by healthcare AI after patients, and the differences in the evaluation of AI among these groups may lead to regulation and guideline changes which affect a hospital at large rather than one specialty or one medical professional.
Repository Citation
Costigan, Falon M., "Medical Professionals' Perceptions of Healthcare Artificial Intelligence" (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 603.
https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/603
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
