Understanding Health Consumer Perspectives of AI in Digital Health

Start Date

1 May 2025

End Date

29 May 2026

Project Participants

Monash University

Status: Completed

Tags: artificial intelligence (AI), consumer engagement, patient experience, public trust, virtual care

Opportunity

As AI tools become increasingly integrated into healthcare systems, understanding how they are received by patients, carers, and the public is critical to ensure safe, ethical, and effective adoption in Australia.

This project addressed a critical knowledge gap by exploring how health consumers (e.g., patients, carers, public) perceive the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in digital health, with a focus on AI-generated summarisation of health information.

Project Objectives

This project aimed to:

Conduct a literature review to identify existing knowledge, frameworks, and research gaps on consumer perceptions of AI in digital health.
Explore health consumer perceptions of AI-based health information summaries in digital health, including attitudes, concerns (e.g. ethics, privacy, security, trust, safety, governance…), usefulness/fit-for-purpose, and usability.
Analyse perceived benefits, risks, limitations, and opportunities related to AI applications in digital health communication.
Provide actionable recommendations for digital health developers, policymakers, governance teams, health service providers, and clinicians to support inclusive and responsible AI implementation.

Publications

Final Outcomes

Through a validated consumer survey instrument the researchers collated responses from 275 Australian consumer responses, which were analysed in regards to perceptions, trust, usefulness and concerns related to healthcare AI. Findings highlight the importance of communication quality, transparency, clinician oversight and accountability in building public trust.

The research findings have been communicated through industry publications and conferences, and peer-reviewed papers have been prepared for publication.

Impact and Benefits

This project generated consumer-driven insights that strengthen understanding of public expectations regarding emerging healthcare technologies, particularly AI-generated consultation summaries.

This research provides practical guidance for designing and implementing patient-facing AI tools, and can support the design, communication, governance and possible policy planning for the responsible adoption of AI technologies across Australia’s healthcare system.