Abstract
Artificial Intelligence (AI) 's role in healthcare has evolved significantly, transitioning from theoretical research to practical applications that affect various aspects of the healthcare system. The study aims to determine the level of knowledge and perceptions on the adoption of AI and machine learning in healthcare among health professionals. The cross-sectional study recruited 167 healthcare professionals from the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethical Review Committee. Participants’ informed consent was also obtained. Data on knowledge and perception of AI was obtained through a validated self-administered questionnaire. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics of Spearman's rho bivariate correlation for relationship among variables. The alpha level was set at 0.05. 65.9% of the healthcare professionals had good knowledge while 25.1% had poor knowledge of AI's usefulness in healthcare. 42.5% disagreed that AI applications in healthcare will replace human healthcare practitioners while 13.8% strongly agreed. Furthermore, 30.5% disagreed that Healthcare providers would lose their jobs following the full adoption of AI in the healthcare system while 22.2% agreed. Most respondents (58.7%) believed that adopting AI in health will facilitate efficient service delivery. However, 58.1% were concerned about the possibility of new ethical challenges due to the deployment of AI in healthcare. Finally, a small significant negative relationship was observed between level of knowledge on AI and each of years of working experience (r = -0.187, p=0.016) and level of education (r = -0.166, p=0.032). This study shows that the majority of health care professionals have good knowledge of AI and machine learning in healthcare. However, majority are concerned about the possibility of new ethical challenges that may result from its adoption into Nigerian health care system.
Key words: Artificial intelligence, machine learning, healthcare professional.
