Clinical Scorecard: Public Views on Response Speed and Human Oversight in AI-Assisted Care
At a Glance
Category
Detail
Condition
Clinical topic addressed by the source article: Public Views on Response Speed and Human Oversight in AI-Assisted Care
Key Mechanisms
Survey assessed preferences for AI responses within 5 minutes versus responses delayed up to 48 hours for professional review, and acceptability of AI-only, therapist-monitored AI, and human therapist mental-health support options.
Target Population
Population described in the source article.
Care Setting
Hypothetical patient portal messaging and mental-health support scenarios assessed in a US online cross-sectional survey.
Key Highlights
For logistical portal messages, 57.4% preferred an AI response within 5 minutes; for general messages, 50.6% preferred the rapid AI response.
For messages about symptoms, treatment, or other clinical concerns, 63.1% preferred waiting for a response reviewed by a health professional.
The human therapist option was selected by 63.9% of participants, compared with 50.2% for therapist-monitored AI and 44.3% for AI alone.
Preferences were associated with participant characteristics, with reported associations differing by message category and mental-health support option.
The study used hypothetical scenarios and a nonprobability online panel; the authors noted possible framing and response-option order effects and that the sample was limited to US adults.
Guideline-Based Recommendations
Diagnosis
Management
Monitoring & Follow-up
Risks
The study did not assess clinical outcomes; preferences were measured using hypothetical survey scenarios.
Response time and response modality were confounded in the scenarios, and survey wording and nonrandomized response-option order may have affected responses.
Patient & Prescribing Data
Adults in the United States who read English and were at least 18 years old; 1,185 participants remained after 52 of 1,237 initial respondents failed attention checks.
No treatment was administered. Participants more often favored rapid AI for general and logistical portal messages, but favored professional review for medical messages. The human therapist option was most frequently selected for mental-health support.
