Attitudes and perceptions of public health postgraduate students towards the use of artificial intelligence in public health

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Artificial Intelligence (AI) subfields such as machine learning, deep learning, robotics and virtual agents (chatbots) are increasingly applied in medicine and public health. AI education for students in these field is therefore essential, as addressed in the National Digital Health Strategy for South Africa (2019-2024). This study aimed to assess the perceptions and attitudes regarding AI among Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health students at the School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, South Africa. METHOD: Students were enrolled in a 7-week Introduction to Research Methodology course during 2 May to 17 June 2022. The online questionnaire was administered anonymously in English using Qualtrics. Ethics approval was obtained for the study (Ref 171/2022). The data from Qualtrics was exported to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet before being imported to STATA 15 for statistical analysis. RESULTS: 618 students (507 females, 108 males, 5 chose not to indicate their gender) completed the questionnaire (81.5% response rate). Generally, students thought AI would be capable of performing various tasks that did not provide direct care to individuals. Most (69%) agreed that introduction of AI could reduce job availability in public health fields. Students agreed that AI in public health could raise ethical (84%), social (77%) and health equity (77%) challenges. Relatively few students (52%) thought they were being adequately trained to work alongside AI tools and the majority (76%) felt training of AI competencies should begin at an undergraduate level. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight diverse perceptions and attitudes regarding AI among the students. This study is a baseline for more extensive in-depth studies to be done within an African context. Follow-up studies could better inform the inclusion of AI into medical and public health tertiary education. The subject of AI is still quite a novel concept that needs to be explored.