Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing rapidly. Currently, concerns exist about its effective and ethical incorporation in medicine, as it is not part of medical curricula. Researchers have suggested the need further to explore the incorporation of AI into medical curricula. This cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate medical students’ perspectives and expectations regarding the future of AI in medical education. A total of 578 students from different academic years at a single institution were included in this study. The majority of the students had a limited understanding of AI, and only 18.2% had received previous training on AI. The mean perception score was 6.43 ± 1.31, with poor, moderate, and good perception levels constituting 16.3%, 76%, and 5.5%, respectively. The overall mean attitude score was 27.3 ± 3.74, with 0.5% of the students exhibiting a negative attitude, 59% a neutral attitude, and 40.5% a positive attitude. A positive correlation was found between the perception and attitude scores, which suggested that the perception and attitude scores increased concomitantly. The majority of the students agreed that AI could help doctors improve their practice, with the most significant consensus regarding the inclusion of AI within medical curricula. A distinct finding of the current study is that most students believed the humanistic role of medicine would not be compromised, which could reflect their willingness to adopt and accept AI use in medicine. AI applications are transforming the medical field, and medical students are now recognising its benefits and ethical concerns. The necessity of including AI education in medical curricula is increasing, and students’ enthusiasm for and active participation in AI may make this a trend in medical education.
AlQarni et al. (Tue,) studied this question.