Dermatologists view AI chatbots with both skepticism, potential

Key takeaways:

• 76.5% of respondents believed AI chatbots would be used in dermatology.
• Misinformation was cited as a concern for using the technology, whereas administrative help was considered a benefit.

Most dermatologists believed the incorporation of AI chatbots into the field is inevitable, and they also anticipated the technology will bring with it both benefits and risks, according to a study.

“Currently, some AI tools have been developed to facilitate certain aspects of dermatological practice such as tracking nevus morphology and evolution, identifying concerning skin lesions and even producing a differential diagnosis for a provided image,” Julian Cortes, BS, of the department of dermatology at the University of California, San Diego Health, and colleagues wrote. “Given the broad accessibility of [AI chatbots (AIC)] and their potential to process images, these tools may become highly relevant in the future of dermatology.”

However, with emerging technologies often come new concerns. To gain a pulse on clinicians’ opinions regarding AIC, the authors conducted an online cross-sectional survey of 192 dermatologists in the U.S.

Of those dermatologists, 53.6% were women, 44.3% were aged 30 to 39 years and 41.1% had 10 or fewer years of experience as attending physicians.

When asked if AIC will be incorporated into formal, dermatology clinical practice, 76.5% of physicians agreed that it is somewhat or very likely to occur, even though 71.9% reported never using it in their practice.

The study found that a higher self-reported AIC understanding was associated with an increased perceived likelihood of implementation of AIC (P < .001), whereas career stage, sex and age were not.

Concerns surrounding the incorporation of AIC into dermatology clinical practice were raised by a majority of respondents, with most being worried the technology would promote misinformation (89%), assign incorrect diagnoses (78.5%) and dehumanize health care (56.5%).

At the same time, the top three categories that physicians believed would be the most affected by the implementation of AIC were patient education (86%), administrative work (76.8%) and prior authorizations (75.8%). While it was unclear from the study whether the impact on patient education was positive or negative, 75.7% of respondents admitted the alleviation of the administration burden would be a potential benefit.

“Should AIC become incorporated into dermatologic practice, the results from this study highlight the importance of adequate training to ensure an appropriate understanding of the benefits and risks associated with AIC use,” the authors concluded.