Pediatrician attitudes, acceptance, and concerns regarding artificial intelligence in pediatric care: a web-based survey in Türkiye

In Türkiye, pediatricians’ perspectives on artificial intelligence (AI), including their knowledge, trust, and concerns, remain underexplored. This study aims to evaluate pediatricians’ knowledge, perceptions, and acceptance of AI in pediatric care. A cross-sectional, open, web-based convenience survey was conducted among pediatricians in Türkiye, including residents and specialists. The survey assessed their knowledge of AI, perceptions of its benefits and risks, and acceptance of AI as a clinical decision support tool. A total of 403 pediatricians accessed the survey; 18 declined to participate, 1 was excluded for a completion time under two minutes, and 16 were excluded for an inconsistent control-item. After excluding responses, 368 were included in the analysis. Participants had a median age of 35 years and a median of 9 years of pediatric care experience. Only 9.5% of participants reported awareness of AI in pediatrics, and 85.9% rated their self-perceived AI knowledge as average or below. Despite this, 74.2% agreed that AI will improve pediatrics, and 88.3% stated it could enhance care quality. Concerns included legal liability (78.5%), data security (54.6%), and the black-box nature of AI (59.2%). Across all 37 ordinal items, a single age correlation survived: younger respondents were more likely to expect AI to increase diagnostic confidence (r s = -0.171, 95% CI -0.269 to -0.070, small effect size; P = 0.001; P adj = 0.038). While 90.8% supported AI as a clinical decision support tool, only 17.4% believed AI could replace human physicians in non-invasive roles. Only 19.3% expected their institution to allocate financial or personnel resources for AI integration. Survey respondents generally view AI as a promising tool to improve pediatric care but express significant concerns about its reliability, ethical implications, and legal responsibilities.