Swedish medical students’ attitudes toward artificial intelligence and effects on career plans: a survey

Background The implementation of artificial intelligence (AI), and especially generative AI, is transforming many medical fields, while medical education faces new challenges in integrating AI into the curriculum and is facing challenges with the rise of generative AI chatbots. Objective This survey study aimed to assess medical students’ attitudes toward AI in medicine in general, effects of AI in students’ career plans, and students’ use of generative AI in medical studies. Methods An anonymous and voluntary online survey was designed using SurveyMonkey and was sent out to medical students at Gothenburg University. It consisted of 25 questions divided into various sections aiming to evaluate the students’ prior knowledge of AI, their use of generative AI during medical studies, their attitude toward AI in medicine in general, and the effect of AI on their career plans. Results Of the 172 students who completed the survey, 74% were aware of AI in medicine, and 71% agreed or strongly agreed that AI will improve medicine. One-third were frightened of the increased use of AI in medicine. Radiologists and pathologists were perceived as most likely to be replaced by AI. Interestingly, 37% of the responders agreed or strongly agreed that they will exclude some field of medicine because of AI. More than half argued that AI should be part of medical training. Almost all responders (99%) were aware of generative AI chatbots, and 64% had taken advantage of these in their medical studies. Fifty-eight percent agreed or strongly agreed that the use of AI is supporting their learning as medical students. Conclusion Medical students show high expectations for AI’s impact on medicine, yet they express concerns about their future careers. Over a third would avoid fields threatened by AI. These findings underscore the need to educate students, particularly in radiology and pathology, about optimizing human-AI collaboration rather than viewing it as a threat. There is an obvious need to integrate AI into the medical curriculum. Furthermore, the medical students rely on AI chatbots in their studies, which should be taken into consideration while restructuring medical education.