ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Digital Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1514166
Does AI Anxiety Hamper Healthcare Professionals' Intention to Adopt AI Systems? A Social Cognitive Theory-Driven Investigation
Provisionally accepted
- Soochow University, Suzhou, China
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Background: The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare has introduced a paradigm shift, yet it is met with AI anxiety among hospital staff, potentially impeding adoption. This study examines the impact of AI anxiety on the intention to adopt AI systems within a hospital setting through the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) lens.Objective: Primarily based on the interactive model of SCT encompassing environmental, personal factors, and behaviors, this study aims to provide an in-depth exploration of how AI anxiety and self-efficacy influence the willingness to use AI systems.Methods: A survey was conducted among hospital staff, and data was subjected to analysis. The platform architecture comprises seven components, supporting the sharing and pledging of Advanced Research Technology (ART) while ensuring transparency, security, and trust.Results: The analysis revealed that encouragement from others significantly influences AI self-efficacy and outcome expectations. While higher AI self-efficacy improves users' outcome expectations and attitudes, it does not invariably increase the intention to use AI systems. Conversely, AI anxiety was found to substantially affect the intention to use AI systems, indicating its critical role in technology adoption.Conclusions: The study concludes that addressing AI anxiety is essential for fostering the usage of AI systems in healthcare. It offers insights into the psychological factors influencing AI integration in medicine, aligning with the global emphasis on smart healthcare advancements.. This research is instrumental in guiding strategies for the successful implementation of AI in healthcare environments. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI), AI Anxiety, Healthcare Adoption, Social Cognitive Theory, Technological Self-Efficacy.
Keywords: AI anxiety, Healthcare Adoption, social cognitive theory, Technological self-efficacy, Artificial intelligence (AI)
Received: 20 Oct 2024; Accepted: 17 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Deng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Wenxin Deng, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
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