One in four UK doctors are using artificial intelligence

Exploring doctors' perspectives on AI after the emergence of large language models

Abstract

Healthcare represents a key domain with high potential application areas for AI. In recent years, reports have highlighted its potential use in areas such as diagnostics, knowledge generation, public health, system efficiency, and predictive, personalised, and preventative medicine. Thus far, however, few studies have explored doctors' experiences of actually making use of AI, given the early stage of deployment of such systems in clinical settings. Our work seeks to fill this gap.

 

This report presents results from a project undertaken by The Alan Turing Institute with support from the General Medical Council to explore UK doctors’ experiences with and perceptions of artificial intelligence (AI) in their work. Through a survey on AI use completed by 929 UK registered doctors, we find that AI is embedded in the working life of a sizeable portion of doctors, with more than a quarter reporting making use of at least one AI system in the last year. The survey highlighted key insights into doctors' use of, and experiences with, the technology, as well as the impact these systems have on their professional responsibilities.

 

Overall, this report contributes to the growing body of evidence that is vital for informing the adoption of AI in healthcare, and guiding emerging policy and regulatory instruments. 

Citation information

Hashem, Y., Esnaashari, S., Morgan, D., Francis, J., Poletaev, A., Enock, F., Bright, J. (2024) One in four UK doctors are using Artificial Intelligence: Exploring doctors’ perspectives on AI after the emergence of large language models . The Alan Turing Institute .