Survey on Portuguese Perceptions on AI, part of this year's Sustainable Healthcare Index – Developed by the Nova Information Management School (NOVA -IMS) and published in Lisbon – 38% of respondents have very limited knowledge, with 21.6% showing no knowledge.
Nevertheless, 59% of Portugal people believe that AI will have a positive impact on the healthcare sector, with 46% saying they are confident in their use.
“The general message is one of the most confident. I think it's extraordinary that 60% of people recognize that this has a positive impact on health. Artificial intelligence.”
Among the main concerns related to the use of AI in health are errors in diagnosis or treatment (56.6%) and fears of machinery replacement by medical professionals (55.4%). Personal data privacy concerns 37.8% of users.
The most mentioned benefits are faster diagnosis, reduced latency and better use of health data.
Only 9% of Portuguese people report that they already use AI-based health tools. Among these tools, applications for symptom consultation (38%), automatic diagnosis (36%), and applications/robots for patient care (28%) stand out.
Technical challenges related to reliability and security are considered to be most relevant to AI adoption in healthcare. A majority (63%) believe that it is essential to regulate the use of AI in healthcare, with 52% thinking that AI could ultimately replace health professionals in some functions.
Strict human supervision has been shown to be essential for 79.6% of respondents to increase public confidence in the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
When asked about final decisions in a diagnostic situation, 63% said they prefer decisions made by doctors with the help of AI. Only 35% prefer this decision to be left alone in the hands of a doctor.
“The biggest concern is errors, and the exchange of experts by machines. That is, the second concern is less relevant to the application of artificial intelligence, but is related to the social impact of its application, and more than anything else, is a manifestation of social perception.”
Most Portuguese (65%) recognize the importance of AI for the sustainability of their health systems, with 56% motivated to share their health data with the AI system.
“They believe that if this contributes to improving quality of life and health, I can share data. And this is a great revelation for all of us, and a great revelation for all of us when there were many fears that have been made clear that we are unfounded about our citizens' concerns,” he concluded.
