Cited by 179Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and EducationArtificial Intelligence ApplicationsArtificial Intelligence in Healthcare

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 37 of the 39 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 2 of the 14 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

ChatGPT and the Future of Digital Health: A Study on Healthcare Workers’ Perceptions and Expectations

Open access

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and intended practices of healthcare workers (HCWs) in Saudi Arabia towards ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot, within the first three months after its launch. We also aimed to identify potential barriers to AI Chatbot adoption among healthcare professionals. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1057 HCWs in Saudi Arabia, distributed electronically via social media channels from 21 February to 6 March 2023. The survey evaluated HCWs’ familiarity with ChatGPT-3.5, their satisfaction, intended future use, and perceived usefulness in healthcare practice. Of the respondents, 18.4% had used ChatGPT for healthcare purposes, while 84.1% of non-users expressed interest in utilizing AI Chatbots in the future. Most participants (75.1%) were comfortable with incorporating ChatGPT into their healthcare practice. HCWs perceived the Chatbot to be useful in various aspects of healthcare, such as medical decision-making (39.5%), patient and family support (44.7%), medical literature appraisal (48.5%), and medical research assistance (65.9%). A majority (76.7%) believed ChatGPT could positively impact the future of healthcare systems. Nevertheless, concerns about credibility and the source of information provided by AI Chatbots (46.9%) were identified as the main barriers. Although HCWs recognize ChatGPT as a valuable addition to digital health in the early stages of adoption, addressing concerns regarding accuracy, reliability, and medicolegal implications is crucial. Therefore, due to their unreliability, the current forms of ChatGPT and other Chatbots should not be used for diagnostic or treatment purposes without human expert oversight. Ensuring the trustworthiness and dependability of AI Chatbots is essential for successful implementation in healthcare settings. Future research should focus on evaluating the clinical outcomes of ChatGPT and benchmarking its performance against other AI Chatbots.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This cross-sectional survey of 1057 healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia assessed early perceptions of ChatGPT within three months of its launch. Most saw potential value in healthcare but reported concerns about credibility, accuracy, and medicolegal implications.

Key findings

  • Among respondents, 18.4% had used ChatGPT for healthcare purposes, while 84.1% of non-users expressed interest in using AI Chatbots in the future; 75.1% were comfortable incorporating ChatGPT into healthcare practice.
  • Perceived usefulness included medical decision-making (39.5%), patient and family support (44.7%), medical literature appraisal (48.5%), and medical research assistance (65.9%); 76.7% believed ChatGPT could positively impact the future of healthcare systems.
  • The main barrier was concern about lack of credibility and unclear sources of information feeding AI Chatbots (46.9%), followed by harmful or incorrect medical decision recommendations (40.2%), difficulty accessing AI models at work (38.1%), and medicolegal implications (30.8%).
  • In adjusted analyses, belief that ChatGPT could improve patient outcomes was associated with higher odds of believing it could improve the future healthcare system (OR = 7.92, p < 0.001), as were comfort using ChatGPT for medical purposes (OR = 2.327, p < 0.001), prior healthcare use (OR = 1.902, p = 0.004), and familiarity (OR = 2.023, p < 0.001).

Methods

  • Cross-sectional electronic survey distributed via social media channels, email invitations, and personal contacts among healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia from 21 February to 6 March 2023; 1057 HCWs participated.
  • The survey was developed by a multidisciplinary team, refined using focus groups, and piloted among 20 HCWs; it had three parts covering knowledge/use, perceived obstacles, and demographics/computer literacy, with multiple-choice questions and no Likert scale or open-ended questions.
  • Analysis used descriptive statistics, multiple response dichotomies for multiple-option questions, and multivariate-adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals; significance was set at p < 0.05 using SPSS version 21.

Limitations

  • The paper states that as a cross-sectional survey, the study is subject to sampling bias, response bias, and recall bias; the sampling technique may lead to selection bias, and participants may not represent the entire healthcare worker population.
  • The paper states that response bias may occur from socially desirable answers, misunderstanding questions, or unmeasured confounding; almost half reported unfamiliarity with ChatGPT, which could introduce bias.
  • The paper states that regional information was not collected due to privacy concerns, the absence of total population size limits generalizability, the study included respondents from one country, and no qualitative techniques were included.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3390/healthcare11131812

Cites

37 of 37 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Figures

Figure 1 HCWs’ use of ChatGPT and expected future usage for healthcare purposes.
Figure 1 HCWs’ use of ChatGPT and expected future usage for healthcare purposes.CC BY · PubMed Central

Verification

Claims the paper makes

52 Own result · 12 Own method · 10 Not checked yet · 5 Own interpretation · 3 No basis given · 1 Partly supported · accuracy not yet measured

Verify all 12 references — free account

Show all 62 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 11
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 14
21 of 21
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    At the time of the study, there was no available data to assess healthcare workers' experience with ChatGPT.

    “With ChatGPT’s recent emergence, there is no available data to assess healthcare workers’ (HCWs) experience, which is crucial information, given the potential consequences to healthcare.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Current forms of ChatGPT and other Chatbots are unreliable.

    “Therefore, due to their unreliability, the current forms of ChatGPT and other Chatbots should not be used for diagnostic or treatment purposes without human expert oversight.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The social media recruitment sample is representative of healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia.

    “This recruitment method was chosen to ensure broad geographic coverage and to include a diverse group of HCWs, considering the widespread use of these social media platforms among HCWs in Saudi Arabia [14].”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The survey responses accurately reflect the participants' true perceptions and experiences.

    “Additionally, the anonymity of the survey responses will ensure that participants feel comfortable providing honest and accurate responses.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    ChatGPT was launched only three months prior to the study.

    “ChatGPT was launched only three months prior to our study”
5 of 5

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Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

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Metadata

Authors
Temsah, M.-H., Aljamaan, F., Malki, K. H., Alhasan, K., Altamimi, I., Aljarbou, R., Bazuhair, F., Alsubaihin, A., Abdulmajeed, N., Alshahrani, F. S., Temsah, R., Alshahrani, T., Al-Eyadhy, L., Alkhateeb, S. M., Saddik, B., Halwani, R., Jamal, A., Al-Tawfiq, J. A., & Al-Eyadhy, A.
Affiliations
  • King Saud Medical City (SA)
  • King Saud University (SA)
  • King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (SA)
  • Pediatric Department, King Saud University Medical City, King Saud University, Riyadh 11411, Saudi Arabia
  • Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital (SA)
  • Alfaisal University (SA)
  • Jordan University of Science and Technology (JO)
  • University of Sharjah (AE)
  • Specialty Internal Medicine and Quality Department, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Dhahran 34465, Saudi Arabia
Corresponding author
Temsah, Mohamad-Hani
Venue
Healthcare
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2023-06-21
Volume
11
Issue
13
Pages
1812
ISSN
2227-9032 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4381550225
Cited by
179
References
39
Citations by year
2026: 30 · 2025: 59 · 2024: 65 · 2023: 25
FWCI
7.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Healthcare (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • IUScholarWorks (Indiana University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Health Informatics › Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Artificial Intelligence Applications
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
Keywords
ChatGPT, AI chatbots, healthcare workers, digital health, AI adoption barriers, perceived usefulness, clinical decision-making, AI credibility, medicolegal issues, Saudi Arabia

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