What does this research mean for the field?

Public attitudes toward AI in healthcare are simultaneously optimistic and cautious, with overall positive sentiment (41.4%) tempered by substantial concerns (35.1% negative) regarding technological maturity, safety, commercialization, and workforce implications. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

This study examines public discourse around AI in healthcare, focusing on sentiment and topic exploration.

June 6, 2026Frontiers in Public Health2 citationsOpen Access

Public perceptions of AI in healthcare: a large-scale BERTopic and sentiment analysis of Reddit discussions

ZTZaiyu Tang WMWenbao Ma ZBZhipeng Bai

Key Points

This study examines public discourse around AI in healthcare, focusing on sentiment and topic exploration.
Conducted a content analysis of 36,555 Reddit posts and comments from March 2020 to March 2025.
Applied BERTopic modeling to identify discussion topics and performed sentiment and temporal trend analysis.
Grouped identified topics into six thematic domains based on semantic similarity and representative keywords.
Identified 14 discussion topics across six thematic domains related to AI in healthcare.
Overall sentiment was 41.4% positive, 23.8% neutral, and 35.1% negative, indicating public concern alongside optimism.
Negative sentiments were linked to issues of technological maturity, privacy risks, and the potential displacement of physicians.

Abstract

Introduction Public perception plays an important role in the responsible implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare because trust, perceived risk, and expectations regarding human–AI collaboration may influence the acceptance of AI-assisted medical services. This study aimed to examine public discourse and sentiment regarding AI in healthcare using large-scale Reddit discussions. Methods We conducted a retrospective content analysis of 36,555 Reddit posts and comments published between March 1, 2020, and March 31, 2025. Reddit was used as a source of large-scale, spontaneous, user-generated discussions. BERTopic modeling was applied to identify latent discussion topics. Topics were interpreted based on semantic similarity, representative keywords, and representative paraphrased posts, and were subsequently grouped into thematic domains. Sentiment analysis and temporal trend analysis were also performed. Results Fourteen discussion topics were identified across six thematic domains: human-centered healthcare, auxiliary medical services, AI platforms and tools, cultural perceptions, food and health safety, and medical regulation. Overall sentiment distribution was 41.4% positive, 23.8% neutral, and 35.1% negative, indicating a generally positive orientation while also revealing substantial public concern. Negative sentiments were primarily associated with technological maturity, commercialization, privacy and safety risks, and the potential displacement of physicians. Temporal analysis demonstrated changes in sentiment distribution over time, particularly following the widespread public diffusion of generative AI tools. Discussion The findings suggest that public attitudes toward medical AI are simultaneously optimistic and cautious. Concerns regarding governance, safety, commercialization, and workforce implications remain prominent in online discussions. These results highlight the importance of transparent communication, clearer regulatory governance, and careful workforce planning to support the responsible integration of AI into healthcare systems.

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