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Medical chatbots can address healthcare challenges, such as access disparities and resource constraints; however, user skepticism persists. This is largely due to perceived uniqueness neglect, the concern that an individual’s distinct traits and symptoms are overlooked by AI. Although personalization has been proposed as a solution, the mechanisms through which it operates remain unclear. Drawing on the Stereotype Content Model, this study with 300 participants investigated how perceived competence and empathy mediate the relationship between personalization and uniqueness neglect. Structural equation modeling showed that personalization significantly boosted the perceptions of competence and empathy. Crucially, personalization did not directly reduce uniqueness neglect; instead, its positive effect was partially mediated by empathy enhancement. These findings underscore empathy as the critical mechanism by which personalization reduces concerns about individual neglect, offering actionable insights for designing effective medical Chatbots.
Alsaad et al. (Fri,) studied this question.