Attitude and Understanding of Artificial Intelligence Among Saudi Medical Students: An Online Cross-Sectional Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographics of Survey Participants

Characteristics	N(303)	%
Gender
Male	174	57.42
Female	129	42.58
Age
21–25 years	284	93.73
26–30 years	17	5.61
>31 years	2	0.66
Academic year
4^th year	106	34.98
5^th year	111	36.64
Intern	86	28.38
Medical school attended
King Faisal University	174	57.42
Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University	129	42.58

Table 2 Descriptive Statistics for Attitude, Understanding, Attitude Towards Teaching in Artificial Intelligence and Confidence in Using Basic Artificial Intelligence Tools Among Medical Students

	Strongly disagree N (%)	Disagree N (%)	Neutral N (%)	Agree N (%)	Strongly agree N (%)
Attitude
AI will play an important role in healthcare	7 (2.31)	4 (1.32)	28 (9.24)	77 (25.41)	187 (61.72)
I am LESS likely to consider a career in radiology, given the advancement of AI	25 (8.25)	36 (11.88)	114 (37.62)	72 (23.76)	56 (18.48)
Some specialties will be replaced by AI during my lifetime	23 (10.89)	43 (17.49)	98 (32.34)	86 (28.38)	53 (17.49)
Understanding
I have an understanding of the basic computational principles of AI	37 (12.21)	69 (22.76)	82 (27.06)	70 (23.10)	45 (14.85)
I am comfortable with the nomenclature related to artificial intelligence	28 (9.24)	64 (21.12)	80 (26.40)	88 (29.04)	43 (14.19)
I have an understanding of the limitations of artificial intelligence	17 (5.61)	52 (17.16)	78 (25.75)	109 (35.97)	47 (15.51)
Attitudes towards teaching on AI
Teaching in artificial intelligence will be beneficial for my career	7 (2.32)	20 (6.60)	63 (20.79)	110 (36.30)	103 (34.99)
All medical students should receive teaching in artificial intelligence	20 (6.60)	31 (10.23)	73 (24.09)	108 (35.64)	71 (23.43)
Confidence in Using Artificial intelligence Tools
At the end of my medical degree, I will be confident in using basic healthcare AI tools if required	102 (33.66)	83 (27.39)	71 (23.43)	26 (8.58)	21 (6.93)
At the end of my medical degree, I will have a better mastery of the methods used to assess healthcare AI algorithm performance	109 (36.97)	85 (28.05)	65 (21.45)	32 (10.56)	12 (3.96)

Figure 1 Responses to questions about medical students’ attitudes towards AI.

Figure 2 Responses to questions about medical students’ understanding of AI.

Figure 3 Responses to questions about medical students’ attitudes towards teaching AI.

Figure 4 Response to questions regarding confidence in using Artificial intelligence Tools.

Table 3 Attitude, Understanding, Attitude Towards Teaching in Artificial Intelligence and Confidence in Using Basic Artificial Intelligence Tools Based on Gender, Age, Academic Year and Medical School Attended

Attitude towards Artificial intelligence
		Negative	Positive	P value
		N (%)	N (%)
Gender	Male	52 (29.88)	122 (70.12)	0.00
	Female	59 (45.74)	70 (54.26)
Age	21–25 years	108 (38.03)	176 (61.97)	0.03
	26–30 years	2 (11.76)	15 (88.23)
	>31 years	1 (50.0)	1 (50.0)
Academic Year	4^th year	60 (54.05)	51 (45.95)	0.00
	5^th year	46 (43.40)	60 (56.60)
	Intern	5 (5.81)	81 (94.19)
Medical school attended	King Faisal University	71 (40.80)	103 (59.20)	0.04
	Imam University	40 (31.0)	89 (69.00)
Understanding of Artificial Intelligence
		Poor	Good
Gender	Male	67 (38.51)	107 (61.49)	0.26
	Female	58 (44.96)	71 (55.04)
Age	21–25 years	121 (46.60)	163 (53.40)	0.12
	26–30 years	3 (17.65)	14 (82.35)
	>31 years	1 (50.0)	1 (50.0)
Academic Year	4^th year	63 (59.43)	43 (40.57)	0.00
	5^th year	47 (42.34)	64 (57.66)
	Intern	15 (17.44)	71 (82.56)
Medical school attended	King Faisal University	84 (48.28)	90 (51.72)	0.01
	Imam University	41 (31.78)	88 (68.22)
Attitude towards Teaching in Artificial Intelligence
		Negative	Positive
Gender	Male	92 (52.87)	82 (47.13)	0.02
	Female	51 (39.53)	78 (60.47)
Age	21–25 years	137 (48.24)	147 (51.76)	0.32
	26–30 years	5 (29.41)	12 (70.59)
	>31 years	1 (50.0)	1 (50.0)
Academic Year	4^th year	55 (51.89)	51 (48.11)	0.18
	5^th year	43 (38.74)	68 (61.26)
	Intern	45 (52.33)	41 (47.67)
Medical school attended	King Faisal University	86 (49.43)	88 (50.57)	0.37
	Imam University	57 (44.19)	72 (55.81)
Confidence in Using basic Artificial intelligence Tools
		Less	More
Gender	Male	79 (45.40)	95 (54.60)	0.02
	Female	76 (58.91)	53 (41.09)
Age	21–25 years	148 (52.11)	136 (47.89)	0.24
	26–30 years	7 (41.18)	10 (58.82)
	>31 years	0 (0.00)	2 (100.0)
Academic Year	4^th year	68 (64.15)	38 (35.85)	0.00
	5^th year	68 (61.26)	43 (38.74)
	Intern	19 (22.09)	67 (77.91)
Medical school attended	King Faisal University	87 (50.0)	87 (50.0)	0.64
	Imam University	68 (52.71)	61 (47.29)

Note: p < 0.05.

Table 4 Impact of Training in Artificial Intelligence on Attitude, Understanding, Attitude Towards Teaching and Confidence in Using Basic Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Tools Among Medical Students

Received Training in Artificial Intelligence
	No	Yes	P value
Attitude towards AI	N (%)	N (%)
Negative	95 (36.40)	16 (38.09)	0.83
Positive	166 (63.60)	26 (61.90)
Understanding of AI
Poor	114 (43.68)	11 (26.19)	0.03
Better	147 (56.32)	31 (73.80)
Attitude towards Teaching in AI
Negative	129 (49.42)	14 (33.33)	0.05
Positive	132 (50.58)	28 (66.67)
Confidence in using AI
Less	139 (53.26)	16 (38.10)	0.05
More	122 (46.74)	26 (61.90)

Note: p < 0.05.