Investigating Consumers’ Hesitant Adoption of Medical Artificial Intelligence
(A2023-114449)

AUTHORS

Elisa Konya-Baumbach, University of Mannheim; Miriam Biller, University of Mannheim; Sabine Kuester, University of Mannheim

ABSTRACT

Unlocking the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) for healthcare is one of the major current challenges for medical companies and policy makers. So far, consumers tend to be reluctant to use medical AI. Research on the causes of the low adoption of medical AI and potential ways to address it remains scarce. The present study addresses this lack of research via three online consumer experiments identifying affective trust as an underlying mechanism explaining consumers' low adoption intention of medical AI. Further, this study explores digital autonomy and digital health literacy as potential levers to increase consumers’ affective trust in medical AI and, consequently, adoption intentions. Consumers high in digital autonomy, respectively digital health literacy, display higher affective trust in medical AI and higher adoption intentions. Based on these findings, the present study offers guidelines for healthcare stakeholders seeking to foster consumers’ acceptance of medical AI.